


as the crow falters

by serj



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-03-26 13:39:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3852826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serj/pseuds/serj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kei Tsukishima, auror, is filled with anticipation about his newfound job at the Ministry of Magic in London. But things turn sour when he gets mixed up in the affairs of dark wizard and unregistered animagus Tetsurou Kuroo, and it only worsens when he falls head over heels for him.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. curiosity killed the crow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed." - Napoleon

“Kei Tsukishima, registered animagus and auror.” The receptionist glanced up at him. “Is that you?”

Kei nodded. He tried to stop his hands from shaking as she handed him a scroll of parchment and a quill over the counter. He quickly signed it, gripping the quill so tightly he was afraid the ink would burst out and bleed over his hand. The receptionist gave him a quizzical look. “Are you alright, sir? You seem tense.”

He handed the parchment and quill back to her. “I’m fine.”

“If you say so.” She gave him his identification card. “You’re free to head to the auror’s office, Mr. Tsukishima. They’re expecting you.”

Silently, he took the card and made his way through the enormous, echoing entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic. The decor was far bolder than the Ministry back in Japan. The tiles darker and sleeker, the booming hall filled with hundreds of ringing voices. He squeezed himself into the crowded lift. He was stuck between a witch carrying a covered cage that was, from the noises inside, presumably full of pixies, and a freckled man about his age who looked just as fidgety as he was, though worse at hiding it.

When they arrived at floor two, the anxious wizard followed him off the elevator. _So he must be an auror, too_ , Kei noted. _Wonder what he's so worked up about_. 

They headed down the hallway, their shoes clacking against the marble floor. Enchanted windows lined the walls. It was raining, and although he knew it was just a work of magic, he couldn't help but shiver as thunder boomed across the artificial sky. The freckled man nearly jumped out of his skin, and Kei snorted.

As they reached the doors of the auror headquarters, the wizard froze. "Are...you coming in?" Kei stood there, awkwardly holding the door open as he awaited an answer, but the man only trembled in response. The poor fellow looked as green as a Romanian Longhorn.

He nodded weakly, and walked through the doorway. Kei followed behind him. 

As soon as he entered the room, two men in their mid-thirties approached, adorned in thick robes that looked more costly than a year's worth of rent. "Hey, Yamaguchi!" The taller one crooned, keeping his voice at a stage whisper as to not draw attention from the desk workers surrounding him. "Have you got those galleons you promised us yet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Yamaguchi was either very uncertain of himself or a terrible liar. 

"You knocked over an entire vat of potions and ruined our whole operation. We would have nabbed that witch yesterday if you hadn't intervened. You're lucky Daichi didn't do more than suspend you from the hunt." 

"Those potions were damn expensive," the other interjected, crossing his arms provocatively. "Ordered them off our own paychecks. You know how competitive the world of aurors is, right? It's a miracle you even made it past training- probably wouldn't be here if you didn't spend half of first year kissing Shimada's ass so he would give you extra help."

"It was an accident! How many times do I have to tell you? I can't afford to pay for it, I haven't even received my first paycheck-" He was on the verge of tears. A weak one for an auror, Kei couldn't help but agree. Even so, he didn't deserve this sort of treatment.

None of the other aurors in the office were paying any mind to the dispute. Was this how they treated people here? Kei tsked. "Pathetic."

"What did you say?" The taller wizard turned to Kei with a dangerous glare.

"He obviously didn't mean to mess up your potions, so stop being an asshole about it. By the looks of you, you have more than enough money to throw around, and by the looks of him, well..." He glanced at Yamaguchi: his scrawny appearance, his patched-up suit, the buttons missing from his jacket. "He doesn't. So why don't you get lost?"

The men stalked off, grumbling to themselves. One of them turned to glare at Kei, who ignored him in response. 

Yamaguchi looked like he wanted to shower Kei in a thousand thank-yous, but he strided off towards the front of the office before the other could get the chance.

He was greeted by a sturdy wizard, who stuck out his hand and smiled at Kei. 

“You must be Tsukishima,” he noted. Kei nodded, wincing at the wizard's iron grip. 

"My name's Daichi."

“Nice to meet you,” Kei said, his voice slightly winded from the unexpected workout that apparently entailed a Daichi handshake. 

“The same to you,” Daichi replied. “I’m afraid I don’t have a job for you just yet. I know you were expecting to be set straight to work as soon as you arrived, but a couple new workers are terrifyingly good at their job. As individuals, they aren’t too good; Kageyama doesn’t get along with anyone, and Hinata is an incredibly clumsy worker. But together, they keep each other in check.”

“I see,” Kei nodded, though he wasn’t sure he saw at all. “Well, when do you expect to have a new job in? From what I’ve heard, there are more dark wizard operations running in the backstreets of London than even the Ministry can keep up with. That’s why they sent me here, after all.” The annoyance was clear in his voice, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. The Minister of Magic himself had _requested_ Kei be brought here because of his outstanding work back in Japan. He had closed more cold cases, arrested more witches, and put more suspected law-breaking wizards through a successful trial than he could ever hope to count. And now they were telling him they didn’t have a single job? 

“One will probably open up soon.” Daichi didn’t specify when _soon_ was, which frustrated Kei further. “In the meantime, Sugawara can give you a tour of the office.”

A perky wizard rose from their chair in a nearby cubicle. “Hey, Tsukishima. I’m Suga.” They grinned, then began to stride across the office. It took a second before Kei realized he was supposed to be following them.

***

Kei arrived back at his flat late that evening, utterly exhausted. Sugawara had set him to filing paperwork after they had finished showing him around the place.

“We have enchanted quills that do these,” they had explained. “But we like to give newcomers the job of doing a few stacks, just so they can get an idea of the kind of cases they’ll be working on. I’m sure it’s not as necessary for you, Tsukishima, since you’re an experienced auror already. But Daichi thought you should try some anyway, considering London differs a bit from Tokyo.”

Sugawara had been right about the difference. Though there were the everyday “Death Eater sightings” (that were more often than not the result of the witness indulging in too much firewhisky beforehand), there were cases far more bizarre than he had encountered during his time as an auror in Tokyo. He had an inkling this would be an interesting job.

 

He got to work early that morning, arriving through a telephone booth. Kei hoped the time would affect whether or not he would be assigned a case, but he could only hope.

There were only a handful of witches and wizards at the office when he strode in through the doors. Not even Daichi was there. Instead, a reserved but kindly dark-haired witch nodded to him. “Ukai wants to see you. He has a job available.”

Kei barely stopped to thank her before he raced into the small front office that read _Keishin Ukai_ on a plaque above the entrance. Cigarette smoke filled his next breath. 

“Oh, sorry!” Ukai exclaimed. “I didn’t think you’d be here so early. I was just having a smoke.” He put the cigarette out in an ashtray on his desk and cleared away the smoke with the snap of his fingers. “Go ahead and sit down.”

Kei eased himself into the unstable chair that faced Ukai’s desk. “The lady outside, uh…” He reached for her name. “Kiyoko. She said you had a job for me?”

“That I do." Ukai sorted through a messy stack of papers until he found what he was looking for. Clearing his throat, he continued, “It may not be a very big job, or it may be huge. It’s hard to tell. All we know is there’s a potion-selling operation going on. Their wares are illegal, of course. Not necessarily the potions themselves, but the way they're being distributed. They’re badly made, and they’re being traded in bulk with high risk factors. Deadly potions, awful stuff. The details are on the sheet.”

Kei looked over the paper. It listed the neighborhoods rumored to be involved (mostly muggle, far displaced from the Ministry), and the descriptions of some of the witches and wizards known to be partaking in dealing the potions. _Amortentia, Bloodroot Potion, Drink of Despair, Elixir to Induce Euphoria, Essence of Insanity, Garrotting Gas, Potion No. 86, Weedosoros_. “How soon do you want me to start?”

“As soon as possible.”

 

Kei had only been in London for about a week, and so most of the streets were unfamiliar to him. He didn’t imagine he would be inclined to visit the neighborhood he now stood in, even if he had lived in London his whole life. The buildings that surrounded him looked ready to fall apart at a moment’s notice. There was no way he would be able to find any trace of this potion cartel wandering aimlessly around on foot. 

He crouched down. He didn't make a habit of doing this. It wasted quite a fair amount of time and energy, but the long and arduous process of becoming an animagus had not been for nothing. As he inhaled, he felt himself growing smaller, his arms shrinking into feathery black wings, his human nose extending into a long, dark beak. His feet became sharp, three-toed talons. He lifted himself off the ground, flapping his wings until he was soaring far above the cityscape.

The alleyways were empty except for litter and discarded bottles. An occasional passerby glanced up at him, or pointed, if they were walking with someone. But to muggles and wizards alike, Kei appeared to be an ordinary crow.

As he flew lower in an attempt to get a closer look at the houses that lined the block, he spotted a stray cat wandering about. It seemed to be taking its time, prancing leisurely between the buildings. Kei didn’t dare approach; he knew all too well what a feline could do to him in this state. He avoided the furry obstacle, turning his attention back to the buildings below. Occasionally he dipped in, trying to get a look inside of the windows of the houses. But he saw nothing out of the ordinary; families sitting inside their living rooms, watching television, or empty bedrooms with clothes strewn about the floor, or apartments ready for the next renter to move in. None of them looked like dark wizards inhabited them. Not any magical folk whatsoever, for that matter. 

He heard an impatient meow from the alley below. Alarmed, he looked down to see the cat sitting not ten feet underneath him, staring directly into his eyes with its own gleaming yellow ones. Kei nearly squawked. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but did that cat just… _wink_ at him?

 

There were was one registered feline animagus in London, and it did not match the description of what Kei had seen in the alley earlier. 

He was rifling through the filing cabinets that lined the back wall of the auror office with an air of frustration. He had followed that cat for three blocks before it disappeared under the porch of a small corner house. Kei _knew_ it had been aware of him. Either it was a very inept cat, or an unregistered animagus. For the sake of this case, he hoped it was the latter. 

"Hey, Tsukishima!" a voice called. He turned to find the wizard from the other day racing up to him. “ _Tsukki_!” 

“How do you know my name? I don’t think I told you.”

“Oh, I heard you talking to Daichi. Sorry. I just wanted to thank you for yesterday. With the galleons. You sort of saved my hide back there.”

“Right. I remember.” It seemed so insignificant amidst the commotion of the day, and his futile animagi research. “You don’t need to thank me. I just don’t like it when people act all high and mighty.”

Yamaguchi looked as if he wanted to continue their conversation, but Kei hurried away before he could speak. Yamaguchi was nice, but he had work to attend to. 

 

“So you say you think the cat was an animagus?” Daichi’s gaze rose from the pile of case records at his desk to give Kei skeptical look. “I trust your word, Tsukishima, but I do think that’s jumping to conclusions a bit.” 

“It exhibited characteristics and movements that were humanlike,” he explained. It sounded a lot better than saying, ‘the cat winked at me’.

“How so?” asked Daichi. Kei sighed.

“The cat winked at me.”

“It _winked_ at you. And that’s why you think it’s an animagus?” 

“Listen, I know how it sounds, but-”

“Alright.”

“Huh?”

“You can go out searching again tomorrow. I doubt you’ll find anything, and I know that Ukai wouldn’t conclude this to be evidence. I won't mention it to him. I trust that you’ll come back tomorrow afternoon with more clues than a stray cat.”

“I will, sir.”

“I’m putting a lot of faith in you, Tsukishima. Aurors don’t have time to muck around in unimportant cases with little to no evidence.”

“I understand.”

“Alright.” He flashed him a smile. “You’d better get home; it’s past closing time.”

 

" _Muck around_ ," Kei scoffed irritably as he scuffled out into the London street. Checking into the auror office was an inconvenience, but an unfortunate necessity. “They tell me they don’t have any jobs for me to complete, even though they _asked_ me to work here, and when I finally get an assignment, I’m accused of slacking off.” He sighed, shivering as cold air filled his lungs.

The weather was rainy and bleak, as Kei had found it often was in London. But the dreary sky wasn’t what was souring his mood.

The alleyway where he had spotted the cat the day before was absent of change. There were still broken bottles and litter in the gutters that were squeezed between the buildings and the cracked asphalt drive. The houses to his right still had paint peeling on the sides, the roofs badly in need of repair. But there was no sign of any sketchy potion-selling business. There were no businesses at all in this area, apart from the sad-looking corner store with its stained brick walls the next block over.

Passing through the alley with no clues, Kei turned left and followed the sidewalk nearly overgrown with weeds. He passed the small, worn houses, his desperation growing worse by the minute. He’d really like to meet the aforementioned Kageyama and Hinata that Daichi had seemed so fond of. He would make sure they never had the courage to steal Kei’s work again.

“No, no,” he murmured to himself. “That isn’t a productive way of thinking.”

“What isn’t?”

Kei whipped his head up to find the source of the reply.

A man stood on the porch of a nearby house, which looked ready to fall apart underneath him. The condition of the building was far worse than any of the other homes on the block, and the stranger suited the place perfectly. He looked rumpled, like he had been through the wash far too many times. He wasn't much older than Kei, but his catlike eyes gave off the air that they had seen far more than his in their time.

Kei glowered at him. “And who are you?”

“Tetsurou Kuroo. Welcome to the neighborhood, Blondie.”

“My name is Tsukishima. And I’m just passing through.”

“You don’t look like you’re in any hurry. Are you looking for something? Or some _one_?”

Kei pursed his lips. “No one in particular.”

"There's not much else of a reason to be walking around here."

Kei gave the man a once-over, lingering again on those unsettling eyes. "Actually," he considered, "Would you mind if I came in? I'd like to ask you a few questions."

 

“Sorry about the mess,” Kuroo said as he closed the door behind them. _Mess isn’t the right word_ , Kei noted. The house was desolate and nearly absent of furniture, with only a few things strewn about. What was messy about the place was its water-stained ceiling, the wallpaper peeling down the walls, the missing floorboards beneath their feet. He bit his tongue to avoid comment.

“I’ll go heat up some tea. Uh, you can sit on the couch, if you want.”

Kei didn’t make a habit of visiting strange homes. He imagined that if he did, he would prefer much nicer places. But Kuroo looked like he knew something, and that sly grin he kept giving Kei when he thought he wasn't looking didn't do much to smooth his feathers.

He heard the screech of a kettle, then a loud “ _Shit!_ ” and the clang of metal against metal. Kuroo entered the room a few moments later, carrying two steaming mugs of tea. He set them down on the poor excuse for a coffee table, and blew on his forefinger. “Sorry about that,” he murmured. “The kettle was hotter than I thought.”

Kei smiled amusedly despite himself, holding the label of the tea bag and swirling it around inside his mug. "There's been reports of some strange goings-on in the neighborhood. I was wondering if you'd seen anything." He sipped conservatively his drink. Some store-brand mint flavor, more than likely. 

“What sort of goings-on?"

He chewed on his upper lip. Kuroo's disposition didn't scream _magic_ , but he didn't seem muggle-like either. Kei gave him a half-answer. "A group has been selling substances to the residents. Have you seen any unusual, mmm-" _What would be a muggle-safe term?_ "Gang activity, perhaps?"

Grinning, Kuroo took a long drink of tea and swallowed. "Do police officers wear robes now, or are you just a really underpaid auror?" 

Kei looked down at his tea and back up at Kuroo, who winked. The familiar, all-knowing strangeness of those eyes clicked a moment too late. "You're-" was the only word he could manage to get past his lips before the drink did its work and his vision faded to darkness. 


	2. but satisfaction brought it back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them." - Bruce Lee

Kei awoke with an ache that spread through every inch of his body and resonated in his skull. He turned his head to the side and wasn’t surprised when bile escaped his throat and fell to the ground with a sickening splat. Letting out a groan, he slowly opened his eyes.

It took him a few moments to register where he was. It was an alleyway, somewhere in London. _Did I get drunk and dream all that up?_ He wondered, slightly hopeful. He was bathed in a flourescent green glow from the bar whose wall he was leaning up against. A torn sheet of notebook paper lay beside him. As he read, the hope that Tetsurou Kuroo was nothing more than an illusion woven by his mind shattered. 

_Meet me at Trafalgar Square next to Nelson’s Column tomorrow at 9pm if you don’t want to wind up any worse than you already are._

The note was wasn't signed, but it didn't have to be. Yelling something obscene, he crumpled it up and threw it at the wall across from him. A woman walking by gave him an odd look, and he reddened.

Every limb burning in protest, Kei got himself onto his feet and trudged sullenly out of the alley.

 

Daichi was sympathetic. _Who wouldn’t be?_ Kei supposed as he walked back to his desk after explaining the events of the previous day to his supervisor. _I look like a wreck_.

His wand had been snapped the night before, presumably by Kuroo. 

“Poisioned by _tea?_ Really, Kei?” he sighed to himself as he attached his request for a new willow wand to the leg of an owl. The Ministry's roost was a bit inconvenient. Since they were underground, the owls had to fly up through a chute to reach the sky far above. 

“Who poisoned you?” an alarmed voice exclaimed. Kei grunted irritably as he turned to Yamaguchi, who was pouring bird feed into the containers at the edge of the roost.

“Why do you always surprise me like that?”

“Sorry, Tsukki! I was just concerned.”

Kei finished tying the package to his designated owl and watched it fly off with a _hoot!_ “It was the main suspect of the case I’m working on, if you must know.” 

“Oh! Hinata mentioned that to me. Something about potion selling…?”

“Why the hell does Hinata know the specifics of my current job affair?”

“I...I don’t know. I think he was talking to Ukai about it.”

“Of course he was,” Kei scoffed. Leaving Yamaguchi to tend to the owls, he trudged through the door and back to the auror office, only to run into the aforementioned pair. 

“Oh, hey!” The Hinata blurted. “Tsukishima, right?”

“Unfortunately." 

“Daichi told us about you. You used to work in Japan!”

He said it as a statement instead of a question.

“I did. I heard you’ve been stealing all of the work from everyone else.”

“Er...well…” Hinata was slowly losing his excitable demeanor. 

“I have a suggestion for the both of you. You should lay off, and let the more skilled aurors handle the heavy work.” He turned on his heel. Kageyama had looked prepared to pull out his wand right then and there, so now was as good a time as any to end the conversation.

“H-hey!” Hinata exclaimed. “Don’t go acting all superior just because you were chosen to work here!”

“Then stop taking my jobs.”  
***

“I heard about your conversation with Kageyama and Hinata earlier,” Ukai noted when Kei stepped into his office that afternoon.

“Rita Skeeter has nothing on the auror office, huh?” Kei scoffed. “It seems everyone knows the latest dish of gossip about me before I learn about it myself.” 

“Most of the people here have worked in this office for a long time,” Ukai said. “We all get along pretty well. I wouldn’t like that to change. You won’t try to compromise that, will you, Tsukishima?”

“No...no, sir.”

“Good.” Flipping through a stack of folders, Ukai huffed out a breath. “That idiot secretary of mine...I swear, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was a muggle.” He stood from his desk. “Sorry, one moment, please.” 

He leaned out of the doorway of his office. “ _Takeda!_ ”

Moments later, a stout man with mussed brown hair ran up to Ukai. “Sorry, sorry! I forgot.” Takeda handed him a pile of paperwork and ran back to his own desk.

Ukai looked down at the papers in his arms and grunted. “Yours must be in here somewhere.”

He spent the better part of the next five minutes organizing the piles of parchment on his desk before he became satisfied with the setup. “Alright. Here it is.”

Kei looked down at the sheet in front of him, and recognized it immediately; it was his report of the incident from yesterday.

“It says here that the guy left a note next you.”

“Yes. He told me to meet him at Nelson’s Column tonight at nine.”

“I want you to go with Yamaguchi.” 

“What?!”

“You’ll need backup, if Kuroo is as dangerous as you make him out to be.”

“I agree, sir, but I don’t think bringing Yamaguchi along is the best idea.”

“And I don’t think you’re the one making the orders.”

 

“I don’t see anyone here,” Yamaguchi said. Kei looked across the dimly lit square, Two teenage girls sat at the edge of the fountain, dipping their feet in the water. There were a few pedestrians scattered around the park, but no one was anywhere near the column, and Kuroo was nowhere to be found.

“He’ll come,” Kei promised, confident in his words. He didn’t know why he had so much faith in Kuroo; the man was a criminal, after all. “I suppose we should prepare ourselves…” He pulled a wand he had borrowed from the Ministry for temporary use out of his coat pocket. It wasn't anything akin to a willow wand, but it would have to do.

Turning away from Yamaguchi (or what he supposed was Yamaguchi; under the disillusionment charm, Kei could only make a good guess where his companion was), he murmured, " _Repello Muggletum_."

“Shouldn’t we...use some more protective spells?” Yamaguchi inquired nervously.

“Why? Are you afraid?”

"Of-of course not.”

“Then don’t worry about it.”

Half an hour later, Kei retired to slouching against the column. He checked his pocket watch for the upteenth time. It was nearing 9:40. “Why isn’t he here?” Kei huffed. “He can’t see you, unless he saw you before we left the Ministry, which is near impossible. And there’s no way he forgot.”

“Maybe he found a way to see through my disguise,” said the empty air next to Kei.

“Maybe. But even so…” He exhaled deeply. “I don’t know. I just thought he wouldn’t be so skittish.”

“Should we call it a night?”

Taking one last look out across the square, Kei tsked. “Yeah. I suppose so.”

 

Kei couldn’t find sleep that night. Or rather, sleep couldn’t find him. He lay awake in his bed, not even bothering to get under the covers or change out of his work clothes. He was too absorbed in thought to do anything. He had always considered his apartment to be reasonably large, but now his bedroom felt tiny and cramped and unsuitable for living. Just as his eyes began to finally close, he heard someone speaking in the other room. No, singing. Something from the Weird Sisters. 

Abruptly, he flung off his covers and ran into the living room. The singing stopped when he entered.

“Hey, Blondie.”

Kei nearly jumped out of his skin. He was familiar with the Floo Network, and used it frequently himself. But what surprised him was not the mode of communication, but who it was that was communicating with him.

Tetsurou Kuroo’s head was inside his fireplace.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, slightly miffed by Kuroo’s grin. His hair looked as awful as ever.

“You didn’t do as I asked.” 

“What are you talking about? I went where you asked, when you asked. You’re the one who didn’t show up.”

“Because you brought someone else with you.”

Kei opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“Don’t think I don’t have resources or skills, Tsukki. I have my ways. If it was anyone else, I’d be pretty angry, but I happen to like you.”

Kei decided it was best not to reply to that.

“Go to the house you first saw me at tomorrow, at the same time. If you don’t turn up, I can guarantee you’ll regret it.”

“And you won’t poison my tea this time?”

He laughed. “I can’t make any promises.”

 

Kei arrived at his destination cold, wet, and slightly irritable. Rain pelting the roof of the porch, he rang the doorbell several times before realizing it didn’t work. At his first knock on the door, he heard Kuroo yell, “Coming!” before leaning through the now-open doorway with a familiar grin across his face. "Nice to see you again," he said. “I want to make a bargain.”

Kei surged forward, grabbing Kuroo by the collar. "We're going straight to the Ministry, actually," he said. "I don't bargain with criminals."

"That's nice," Kuroo replied, voice unwavering. "Do you bargain with curses?" 

Kei panned his eyes slowly down towards the wand digging into his ribs. " _Shit_." 

 

“I want you to join my group.”

“Your what?”

The couch seemed to have lost more stuffing since Kei was last here. His borrowed wand was burning in his pocket. He should have been reaching for it, been incapacitating Kuroo, been sending an alarm to the Ministry. Instead, he sat a few feet apart from the wizard, watching him drum his fingers against the arm of the sofa.

“You know! My team. My pack. My potion-selling gang.” Kuroo made it sound as if he’d just asked Kei to join a sports team, not an illegal hoard of dark wizards.

“No fucking way.”

“You haven’t even heard what I’ll do in return!”

“I don’t need to. I’m not going to do it.” Kei rose from the couch and took a step towards the door. He would have to return with reinforcements.

"What do you owe to the Ministry?"

"Excuse me?" Kei turned, expecting Kuroo's wand to be drawn, but he was still leaning back into the couch, arms folded across his chest. 

"You're an auror. You're smart. You're educated. You probably know all about their business practices." He was talking fast now, trying to keep Kei's attention. "You probably know what they do to anyone who slips the least bit out of line. You're probably new to the Ministry, probably think you're a big upshot." 

"I don't really appreciate those assumptions."

"Fine, fine. But you know what I'm talking about." He sucked a breath. "Anita Owens. Koji Suoh. Wizards who were just trying to earn their keep, but were sentenced to lifetimes in Azkaban. Have you heard of them?"

Kei didn't recognize the names, but he remembered hearing about cases like them. "So? That doesn't change the fact that you're a criminal."

"I don't control what people do with those potions. Or how they use them."

"But you know they're dangerous, and you willingly supply them to people. Muggles, even." Kei's hand was on the doorknob.

"Muggles aren't as dumb as you think. I happen to be good friends with a few of them."

"Still doesn't make it right." 

He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped. Kuroo had all but materialized next to him. "What if I told you I knew a way to make both of us happy?" 

 

Kei Tsukishima awoke the next morning with a stomachache from too many butterbeers and a feeling of impending doom. His first coherent thought was _what have I gotten myself into?_

Three days. That was the amount of time he had to put all of this together. He had his work cut out for him.

“Hey, Yamaguchi,” Kei greeted. It was a quiet greeting, too; too quiet to be heard over the clacking of magical typewriters, or the constant buzz of conversation that filled the auror office. But Yamaguchi heard it, anyway.

“Oh, hey, Tsukki!”

_”Find someone who trusts you.”_

_“But I don’t know if anyone trusts me! I don’t have any friends, I've only been in London a few weeks.”_

_“Then make some.”_

 

“I’m sorry about the other day. I should have known he’d be unreliable.”

 

“Oh- it’s okay, Tsukki. I was happy to keep you company, regardless.” Yamaguchi beamed at him, and Kei couldn’t help but give a small smile in return. A seed of guilt was beginning to grow in the pit of his stomach. He was befriending Yamaguchi for all the wrong reasons.

*  
“Tsukishima!” Yamaguchi called frantically, just as Kei was grabbing a handful of floo powder from a brass container. 

Yamaguchi stopped abruptly in front of the long row of fireplaces that lined the Ministry of Magic’s entry hall. “Um,” he began breathlessly, “I was wondering.”

Kei raised an eyebrow. 

“I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow night. It’s my birthday- tomorrow, I mean- and I don’t have a lot of friends here in London, since I’m from Liverpool and don’t have time to visit. But I wanted to celebrate it anyway. You don’t have to bring anything, of course, but-” Yamaguchi seemed to come to the realization that he was blabbering. “So...will you come?”

Kei was prepared to decline, but he remembered his deal with Kuroo. Not only that, but, as uncool as he was, he had taken a liking to the timid and freckled wizard. 

“Okay. Sure.”

Yamaguchi smiled. “Thanks, Tsukki. It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Kei stepped into the fireplace without reply. Just as he was tossing the floo powder at his feet, Yamaguchi added, “I’m inviting Kageyama and Hinata, too- I hope you don’t mind.”

This would be the moment in a soap opera where the camera would zoom in on the character’s face, showing his look of comical distaste to the eager audience. But this was no late night television show, where conflicts were resolved within a twenty-five minute episode. So Kei Tsukishima disappeared in a puff of green smoke, dreading Yamaguchi’s birthday party only slightly less than the traitorous acts he would partake in within the next seventy-two hours.

*

There were seven others at the party besides the birthday boy himself. These included the infamous Kageyama and Hinata, Kiyoko, and three others Kei hadn’t yet been introduced to, but who all apparently worked in the auror department.

Yamaguchi’s flat was far nicer than Kei had envisioned it to be. Though the building was old and not in great condition, he obviously took care of the place to the best of his ability.

“Yo, who’re you?” asked a terrifying guy with a crew cut when Kei entered the cramped living room. 

“Oi, he must be that guy everyone’s been talking about! The one from Japan,” interjected a shorter wizard, who had the most ridiculous hair Kei had ever seen.

“He is!” interrupted Hinata, from his seat between Kageyama and a small blonde witch. “Right, Kageyama?”

Kageyama said something unintelligible between a mouthful of cake. 

“Oh, Tsukki’s here!” Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Kei watched as Yamaguchi exited the kitchen alongside Kiyoko, both of whom were carrying trays of food. “Uh, we already cut the cake- we weren’t sure you were coming, sorry. But there’s still some left! And there’s other stuff, too, if you don’t like sweets,” he added, motioning to the snacks he had just set on the table.

Yamaguchi stood there awkwardly. “Sorry, I don’t know how wizard birthday parties work, really; my parents are both muggles. But I imagine this isn’t too different.”

“You don’t need to apologize, Tadashi,” the blonde witch said brightly. “Everyone looks like they’re having fun!” She nodded in the direction of the rambunctious duo from earlier. Kei hadn't thought it was possible to be embarrassingly bad at pin the tail on the donkey, but they were certainly cutting it close. 

“Oh, um.” Kei shuffled his feet awkwardly, digging a small package out of his pocket. “I got you a gift.”

“You didn’t have to do that!” Yamaguchi replied sheepishly. 

“I felt obligated to.” He handed the package to Yamaguchi. “It’s nothing special- it’s just a remembrall.”

“My sister used to have one of those!” The wizard with the crew cut noted, turning away from the game momentarily. “She lost it, though.”

Yamaguchi turned the orb over in his hands, examining it. “Thank you, Tsukki. You’re a great friend.”

Kei tried to swallow the guilt that was burning a hole at the back of his throat.

 

A few minutes later, after more awkward feet shuffling, Kei decided that since he wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon, he may as well sit down. He found an armchair that looked mostly harmless.

It was only when he began sneezing profusely that Kei considered disregarding his original opinion of the furniture. 

“Oh, Tsukki, are you allergic to cats?” Yamaguchi asked. “That’s where mine usually sleeps.”

“I am,” Kei replied. “I don’t like them much, either.”

*

In his limited time working for London’s Ministry of Magic, Kei had never once been late. 

His outstanding attendance record was suddenly and unfortunately changed when he found an all-too-familiar black cat curled up outside the door to his apartment building. When he stepped out, it rubbed up against his legs.

“That’s unnecessary,” Kei said. “And extremely disrespectful.”

Kuroo’s tail shriveled, and his height grew profusely, limbs extending until he stood in front of Kei in his original form. It was always strange to watch someone else do this, and it seemed to last half as long from an outsider's perspective.

“I hope you haven’t shared our agreement with anyone, Tsukki. I don’t think either of us would enjoy the consequences.”

“No need to be so dramatic. I want this to work as much as you do." He started down the sidewalk, and Kuroo fell into step beside him. "Did you want something?"

"Just making sure everything is going smoothly. Also, I came to give you this." Kuroo reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a roll of adhesive tape.

"What's this?" Kei asked, turning the roll over in his hand.

"Spellotape for your wand. I feel bad for breaking it."

He gave Kuroo a quizzical look. "You know this isn't going to fix it."

Kuroo shrugged. "It was more of a gesture than an actual solution."

Kei wanted to point out that this didn't mean all was forgiven, but he turned to find Kuroo had vanished from his side. He saw why a few feet ahead; they were close to the Ministry's first phone booth entrance. 

 

Kei had little time to consider that he might not hate Tetsurou Kuroo before he felt someone knock into him as he entered the auror department. 

“Sorry-” he began. His apology was stopped short when he noticed the now-scattered papers Takeda had been carrying before he had bumped into him. 

They were various _Daily Prophet_ articles, ranging from recent dates to who knows when. The one Kei could most clearly read was labeled with the headline, _Dangerous Wizard’s Scheme Continues: Five Dead From Counterfeit Potion Usage_. The grayscale picture under the title showed a man running off down a puddle-filled street, two others at his side. Kei could only see the back of his head, but he knew of no other wizard who had hair as messy as the one in the moving photograph.

Before Takeda could regain his composure, Kei snatched the article off the ground. 

“H-hey!” The secretary exclaimed. “I’m supposed to take those back to Ukai!”

“Oh, don't worry. I'll make sure he sees it,” was Kei’s aggravated reply before he seated himself at his desk. 

Now he could examine the page more closely. It went on to explain how the culprit of these crimes was confirmed to be a dark wizard named Tetsurou Kuroo, who remained unable to find or capture by even the best aurors the Ministry could hire.

“ _We’ve been sending in aurors from outside of the United Kingdom. It’s gotten that serious,” says Minister of Magic Ikkei Ukai. “Kuroo is a criminal- some even say he’s deliberately selling lethal potions to underage wizards in hopes the results will be fatal. Not only that, but he’s not afraid to put others in danger to benefit his operation. Even our best witches and wizards are failing: most refuse to assist us after finding out first hand the damage he can do_.” 

The article dated back to three months ago- right before Ukai sent a letter to Kei asking him to work for the Ministry.

Kei slammed the newspaper down on Ukai’s desk.

Ukai grunted when he saw the title. He took his time putting out his cigarette in a crow-shaped ashtray on the corner of his desk. 

“If you’re going to quit, we’ll give you next month's pay for your trouble.” He didn’t even look up from the parchment he was reading over. As if he was used to this.

“I’m not quitting. I just want to know why.”

Ukai laughed- his laugh was slightly raspy, likely due to his excessive smoking. “I must admire your courage, albeit slightly foolish. But if you really are staying, I suppose I can tell you why. It’s quite simple.” He leaned back in his chair, arms folded behind his head. “Kuroo isn’t the worst wizard that I’ve ever encountered; not by a longshot. The reason he isn’t rotting in Azkaban right now, the reason all aurors have failed to capture him and quit trying, is because of his team. Nekoma, I believe they call themselves. That group, together, is the strongest opponent anyone could ever dare to face. Their loyalty goes deeper than what ties me to the MInistry, what ties you to your job. It’s kind of terrifying, really.”

“Then why not tell me…?”

“Because every single auror we’ve called in, no matter how skilled, has given up this case; some quit before they even tried. It was an idiotic idea, but I thought that maybe if you believed the case was easy and wasn’t causing much of an uproar, you would have more confidence to carry it out until the end. I’m still amazed you’ve made it this far without any major catastrophes.”

“I can handle Kuroo on his own,” Kei replied. “I’ll take them out one by one, if that’s the only way I can get to him.”

 

Kei could not handle Kuroo. 

“What do you mean, there’s been a change of plans? I thought you had it all figured out!” He was currently using the only telephone in the entire Ministry, located in the small, minimum-security vault behind the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. He hadn't known of it until Kuroo told him, and Merlin knows how he found out.

Kuroo had explained that this was a more secure way of speaking to him, as the Floo Network was monitored, and the Ministry didn’t know ‘half a shit’ about how phones worked.

“Kenma refused,” was the hesitant reply. “So we’re short a man, and we need all hands on deck if we’re going to do this properly.” 

“I’m not sure I understand,” Kei said. He knew who Kenma was; Kuroo referred to him as his right-hand man, his friend since childhood, the brains behind every operation Nekoma partook in.

“So you’re saying,” Kei continued, lowering his voice and glancing around the dark storage room, “You’re saying that _I’ll_ have to do what Kenma was going to do?” It was one thing to retrieve the item for the potion, but to be the one taking it…

“Yes.” 

“No, no. I can’t do that. I’ll lie to the Ministry, I’ll fulfill your plan, I’ll get you in, but after that, I’m done. You’re on your own. Kuroo…?”

The line was dead. Kuroo had already hung up.

“ _Asshole_ ,” Kei hissed as he slammed the phone onto the receiver. 

 

Kei met a strangely enthusiastic owl on his way out the door the next morning. He nearly ran straight into a streetlamp, he was so distracted by its consistent fluttering. He knew it had a message for him, but he dreaded what it was the message would entail; in fact, Kei presumed he already knew. Giving up, he held out his arm to allow the creature a perch. The letter tied to its ankle had only one word written: _Today_.


	3. guilty as charged

“Breaking my nose was a bit of overkill, don’t you think?” Kuroo murmured, squirming in the grip of the handcuff spell Kei had placed on him.

“It has to look realistic. Now be quiet- we’re entering the building.”

Kuroo fell silent as the phone booth dropped below the streets of London and down through the chute that led to the Ministry of Magic.

Workers, witches, and wizards alike stared as the two of them exited the booth. Kei imagined he would be surprised, too, if someone were leading a known criminal through the Ministry after what looked like a decent beating.

Kei took the emergency elevator; he believed this could be considered an emergency. Kuroo had the sense to stay silent, though he did release his arm from Kei’s grip for the ride up. Kei took the opportunity to wipe his palms on his robes. He was sweating more profusely than he had been during his first day on the job.

Out of all the things Kuroo was awful at, acting was not one of them. They passed through the doors of the auror office to a barrage of turning heads and gaping mouths. Kuroo struggled against Kei’s grip, as if attempting to break free. Noticing this, Daichi and Tanaka rushed to help. Together, the three of them led Kuroo across the room. 

Ukai nearly burnt a hole ins his desk when he saw him. His cigarette dropped out of his mouth, and he had to pick it up in a hurry before it could do any damage. Kuroo grinned at him, baring his teeth.

Shock subsiding, Ukai demanded, “Well, what are you doing just standing there? Get him to a holding cell!”

 

Sleep didn't come easily to Kei that night.

His body seemed to believe that if he just found the right position, the right angle of his pillow, the perfect adjustment of his sheets, all his troubles would disappear. But in his heart, he knew that was false hope, knew that this went beyond which side of the bed he curled up on. 

It was a fiery guilt burning in the pit of his stomach, and it was slowly consuming him. Soon, nothing would be left but a pile of forgotten ashes.

 

On his first morning, the storm that brewed inside the enchanted windows of the auror department were monumentally interesting. Today, he walked past them without as much as a casual glance.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said absentmindedly. He was abruptly halted when the eyes of the entire office met his own. 

Every single auror under the employment of the Ministry of Magic was looking at him with a great, beaming smile. The room had been done up in streamers. An enormous sign floating right below the ceiling read, ‘ _Congratulations, Tsukishima!_ ’ Multicolored balls of light surrounded it, bobbing happily in the air. Butterbeer and firewhisky sat on a large table, along with appetizers and pumpkin juice.

Kei supposed they meant to yell “Surprise!” simultaneously, but it came out kind of staggered. 

Everyone laughed anyway, and auror after auror came up to personally congratulate him. They told him how thankful they were, how much stress Tetsurou Kuroo had caused them. One witch nearly cried explaining how her brother had died after drinking a bottle of _Essence of Insanity_ one of Kuroo’s goons had sold to him. 

Even Kageyama and Hinata were impressed. Hinata demanded details on the capture, to which Kei slithered away by muttering something about needing a butterbeer.

He grabbed a firewhisky instead. He longed for something strong to soothe the feeling in his chest that squeezed his lungs and stressed his ribs like overgrown vines inside the confines of his torso.

When the celebration died down a little, Kei slipped past his coworkers and down a flight of stairs. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but his legs seemed to know.

He found himself in a corridor lit by candles, emanating an eerie green glow against the black tiled walls. The place was clean, but obviously very old. It was cold and dank and reminded Kei of a very fancy sewer.

He had only been down here once, but he didn’t have a hard time finding his way through the winding halls, even with a bottle or two of firewhisky under his belt. 

Most of the cells were empty. A few stray dark witches and wizards could be found here and there, but they all gazed at Kei with hopeless, red-rimmed eyes and said nothing. He continued on.

“You’re drunk,” said a familiar voice when Kei staggered round the corridor. 

“Just tipsy.”

“How many drinks have you had?” Kuroo’s amused smile was more comforting than irritating at the moment, even behind metal bars. Kei held up a single finger. After a moment of thought, he added another.

“Merlin’s Beard,” Kuroo scoffed, rising from his small bunk with a creak and walking to the front of his cell, “You really are a lightweight.”

“They’re throwing me a party, and I can’t even enjoy it because of you.” 

“You wouldn’t be having a party thrown for you in the first place if it wasn’t for me.”

“Maybe I don’t want a party. Maybe I just want some peace and quiet.” He leaned against the bars of Kuroo’s cell.

“If you wanted peace and quiet, why did you become an auror?”

“I had to.”

“Had to?"

“Wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I didn’t.” He slumped against the cell, his legs sprawled across the cool concrete. "He couldn’t even save himself.” Kei turned to Kuroo, as if he would supply an answer. “Why’d he do it? Why’d he have to save _me_?”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, right. _Yeah, right_.”

 

Kei didn’t remember going home, but he must have, because he woke up in a bed, and not on the floor in front of Kuroo’s cell.

It was moments later when he realized it was not _his_ bed.

Startled, he sat up, only to feel his head pounding in painful resistance. 

“ _Shit!_ ” he hissed.

Someone knocked on the bedroom door. “Tsukki?”

“What happened?” Kei asked groggily.

Yamaguchi handed him a glass of water, which Kei accepted gratefully.

“You drank a bit too much,” he replied with a small smile.

The water didn’t cure Kei’s raging hangover, but it did soothe his parched throat.  
“And after that?”

“Everyone was worried about where you’d gone off to. Hinata found you down near Kuroo’s cell- I’ve no idea what you were doing _there_ \- and I offered to apparate you to my place. You were awake for a while, but you probably don’t remember that.”

“I didn’t...do anything regrettable, did I?”

“No,” he said, taking the now-empty glass back from Kei. “You were pretty unintelligible. You kept saying something about...what was it? ‘Akiteru’.”

Kei pinched the bridge of his nose and grimaced. Yamaguchi fidgeted where he was seated at the end of the bed. 

“Yamaguchi,” Kei considered, “Why are you so nice to me?”

Yamaguchi stayed silent for a moment. 

“I guess you’ve always seemed so distant from everyone,” he admitted. “Ever since you first got here. To me, it felt like you really needed a friend.”

Kei didn’t know what to say to that. These past few weeks, he had always felt as if _he_ were the one who had the burden of being friends with Yamaguchi on his shoulders. No, burden wasn’t the right word. Yamaguchi definitely wasn’t a burden.

Regardless, the realization that _Yamaguchi_ was the one looking out for _him_ left Kei in awe.

“We’ll, I’d better go make dinner,” Yamaguchi sighed after one too many minutes in silence.

“Wait,” Kei croaked as he began to close the door.

“What is it, Tsukki?”

“Thank you.”

*

Yamaguchi was a pretty good cook, as it turned out. Though Kei was still feeling slightly woozy from his hangover, he had no difficulty enjoying the meal. He had become so accustomed to eating takeout or prepackaged ramen that something like this barely fell short of a blessing.

“So I was out for most of the day? Ever since this morning, when the party happened?”

“I suppose so,” Yamaguchi said as he handed Kei the bowl of fettuccine noodles so he could serve himself. “I had to leave with Yachi for a few hours. She’s trying to find a group of wizards rumored to be owl animagi. She asked me to help, since I don’t really...have a case at the moment.”

“Oh,” Kei replied, spooning a small number of noodles onto his plate. 

“Yeah. We didn’t find many leads, though.”

They ate in a mostly one-sided silence for the remainder of the meal. 

After dinner, Kei thanked Yamaguchi, and was on his way out before Yamaguchi said, “Oh, I almost forgot!” and dragged Kei back inside as he ran to retrieve something from the other room.

He returned with a foot-long rectangular box, and placed it in Kei’s hands. 

“Your wand arrived at the Ministry earlier today. I think everyone forgot about it in the commotion.”

“Ah...Thanks, Yamaguchi.”

Kei received a grin in response.

The night air was cool and damp against Kei’s skin, and he was grateful for his robes. He could apparate home, he supposed, but he liked the feeling of the wind blowing against him. Besides, the fresh air helped soothe his migraine.

His mind wandered to Kuroo; he was supposed to be moved to Azkaban in two days, but Nekoma planned on getting him out before this occurred. Somehow, Kei was meant to fit into all of this. But he had no idea what the plan was. 

As if the heavens were answering his question, the owl from the other day screeched from atop a light pole to catch his attention. When he met its eyes, it swooped down and held out its leathery talon in front of him. 

Kei frowned when he read the contents of the letter attached to it. 

*

Wakatoshi Ushijima had been Chief Warlock of Wizengamot for as long as anyone could remember. It wasn’t that he was old; in fact, he was barely thirty. But all memories of the former Chief were forgotten when Ushijima took over. His overbearing presence outweighed any sense of nostalgia.

As he entered the courtroom sporting plum-colored robes embroidered with a silver W, Wizengamot and audience members alike fell silent.

Taking his seat in front of the infamous Tetsurou Kuroo, he began, “Trail of the fifteenth of November, of offenses committed against the International Decree of Magical Limitations. Interrogators: Wakatoshi Ushijima, Chief Warlock of Wizengamot, Oikawa Tooru, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Tsutomu Goshiki, Court Scribe.” He paused, taking a breath. “Will the witness for the defense please come forward?” 

A wizard with very precise bangs whispered something to Ushijima.

“Ah.” Ushijima settled back in his chair. “It appears there _is_ no witness for the defense. Will the witness _against_ the defense please come forward?”

A witch approached the podium. Kei squirmed from his seat in the stands; this was the woman whose brother had died as a result of being sold one of Kuroo’s potions.

“Your name?” Ushijima asked. The Chief Warlock of Wizengamot was intimidating, but not intentionally. Kei supposed if he had to choose a word to describe him, Ushijima could be labeled as ‘daft’. 

"Yui Michimiya,” the witch replied. 

“What connection do you have to the defendant?”

From his seat in the chair he was strapped in, Kuroo waved meekly (though he couldn’t move much, as his wrists, ankles, and torso were bound by chains). Michimiya turned away from him in disgust.

“He sold potions to my brother on more than one occasion, and I met him in person several times before I was aware of this arrangement.”

“And did you see Kuroo sell potions to your brother himself without regulation or a permit?”

_This is useless,_ Kei thought. _They already know he’s guilty._

“Yes. I witnessed them exchanging bottles and galleons. When I asked my brother about it, he wouldn’t admit to anything. The first few potions weren’t incredibly dangerous, but he used them with his other friends for sport. He had just graduated Hogwarts- this was the summer after his seventh year.

“The last potion he was sold was _Essence of Insanity_. I honestly don’t know why he bought it. His friends dared him to drink it, so of course he did. He passed away shortly after. He- he jumped off the London Bridge.”

“And you’re certain this potion was the cause of his death?”

Michimiya looked offended. “Of course.”

A quick quotes quill scribbled away alongside the Court Scribe with the funny bags as Ushijima spoke. “Thank you, Michimiya.”

She bowed to him and took her seat back in the stands. 

Kuroo took this opportunity to glance around the circular chamber. He found Kei soon enough, and gave him a wink. Kei glared at him and looked away, the tips of his ears burning. _How can he be so calm?_

The second witness made his way towards the podium. He had hair similar to Tanaka’s, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Where Tanaka was rambunctious and loud, the witness was calm and collected.

“Kai Nobuyuki,” he said, before Ushijima had a chance to open his mouth.

“And how do you know the defendant?”

“I used to work for him.”

The mutterings of the courtroom died down. A wizard sitting behind the podium leaned forward. “Ooh,” he smirked. “This is getting interesting.”

“Please be silent, Oikawa, unless you have something substantial to contribute to the questioning.”

Oikawa pouted.

“You do realize that any information you give can be used against you?” Goshiki asked Nobuyuki.

“Yes. I’m prepared to face any and all consequences.”

“Then tell us what you know about the accused.”

“Kai, please,” Kuroo whined from behind him, with a desperation Kei had never heard from him before. “We’re- we were friends. I was just looking out for you.”

Nobuyuki ignored him. 

“I was around seventeen when we met. Tetsurou- _Kuroo_ \- was a year older. At the time, it was just him, and…” He paused, considering. “Two others.”

“Don’t you know their names?” This was from Oikawa; he was looking at Nobuyuki with unsurpassed interest. 

“Their names aren’t relevant,” Nobuyuki replied, rather harshly. Ushijima made a silent motion to Oikawa, implying that he should back off.

“I’m just trying to get somewhere,” Oikawa murmured, giving the Chief Warlock a knowing look. “This is a court trial, not story hour.”

The wizard seated next to him flicked him in the back of the head.

“Ow, Iwa!” he spat. “That’s unnecessary!”

Slightly bewildered, Ushijima turned back to Nobuyuki. “I apologize for the interruption. You may continue.”

Nobuyuki nodded.

“It didn’t start out as anything _bad_ , really. Just a handful of homeless teenage boys trying to get by. Kuroo had just left Hogwarts, he probably could have gone into an innumerable amount of careers in or outside of the Ministry. I still don’t understand why he ended up where he is now. I suppose he felt an obligation to help us, since he came from the same situation.

“He started out selling potions left over from his school days. But when he ran out of those, he began brewing his own with our help. We made a lot of money in a very short span of time, because we were cheaper than other vendors, and we sold dangerous potions that the Ministry didn’t allow official businesses to sell. 

“It didn’t take long for us to get caught, but Kuroo slithered out of that one; he killed the magic law enforcement officer who came to find us.”

“He was trying to hurt Morisuke,” Kuroo snapped. If Kei didn’t know any better, he would have thought he was on the verge of tears.

“It was around then that I started growing wary of Kuroo,” Nobuyuki continued, as if he had never been interrupted. “We had over a dozen members by then, though, so my hesitance wasn’t all that noticeable.

“I was nineteen, and starting to grow interested in moving out of our less-than-cozy ‘home’ and having a _life_ outside of all this.

“It was Fukurodani that made me draw the line. They had developed themselves a little after Nekoma, but instead of amateur dark wizards and muggles who make and sell potions, their trade was a bit more sophisticated.

"Their leader gave Kuroo the idea to start making his own potions, instead of already-created recipes. So of course he began mingling with those; he even made some for recreational use, which served the same purpose as drugs, but didn’t have the same side effects.

“By that time I was ready to leave. Far too many people had been harmed because of Kuroo’s potions and his business in general. But I had been with them for _years_ now, so I was waiting for a third strike before I made my final decision.

“Then the first auror came. We were aware he was looking for us weeks before he managed to discover our hideout. Without a second thought- as if...as if a human being’s life was _worthless_ , Kuroo lifted his wand and _murdered_ him.”

“You KNOW it wasn’t like that, Kai!” Kuroo was raging. He looked prepared to burst out of the chains that confined him and leap at Nobuyuki. “You know exactly what the circumstances were!”

“Is that when you left permanently?” Ushijima asked, unimpressed by Kuroo’s outburst.

“Yes.”

“Well, thank you for your time. This information will be more than sufficient. Before you go- may I ask what your level of experience is, magically?”

“Oh, I’m a muggle. But my stepmum is a witch, literally and figuratively. She’s the reason I wound up on the streets in the first place.”

“And what is your occupation, now that you’ve abandoned Nekoma?”

“I work at the QuikMart bagging groceries.”

“I see.” the quick quotes quill scribbled furiously, as if still catching up on Nobuyuki’s lengthy tale. 

“Thank you, Nobuyuki. You may be seated.”

 

Nobuyuki returned to his seat, and Ushijima looked over the parchment strewn across his podium.

“Well,” he said, “Those in favor of charging the accused with the assault and and consequential first-degree murder of at least two ministry officials, as well as breaking the International Statute of Wizard Secrecy, and endangerment of various witches and wizards?”

The vote was unanimous.


	4. scarecrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices." - Alfred A. Montapert

Kei was supposed to meet Nekoma a block away from the Ministry at midnight. He didn’t consider this too sound of a plan, but they appeared to know what they were doing.

He was sitting on his couch trying to concentrate on the book he was reading, but the attempt was in vain. His mind refused to wander away from what would be occurring in a few hours, and he was frustrated that he couldn’t enjoy his brief time off. Ukai had allowed him to leave early immediately following the trial.

“ _Consider this a token of my gratitude. You won’t be getting many opportunities like this again._ ”

Kei wasn’t certain of what he was meant to be doing after Kuroo’s case was tied up. Would he go back to Japan? Or continue work for the Ministry here in London?

 _Though I suppose I won’t have to worry about that_ , he thought, _considering I’m helping Kuroo escape later tonight_. Which caused him to feel queasy all over again.

 

When Kei heard a knock on the door, he jumped. 

There was no one on the other side as he peered through the peephole. Frowning, he opened the door and stepped out into the hall. He saw a flash of long arms and part of a man’s slender face before his head was covered by a cloth sack.

“Hey-!” he yelped, panic rushing over him.

“It’s okay!” Someone exclaimed brightly. “This is all part of the plan!”

Kei didn’t even have time to wonder what the stranger meant by that before someone else’s voice interrupted. 

“Shut up, Lev. Just get him to the car.”

“But I don’t want him to freak out! He might go and pull a curse on me. He is an auror...right?”

Kei couldn’t see the other man, but he imagined he was rolling his eyes. “He wouldn’t have time to freak out if we got him out of here so we could properly explain,” hissed the one who wasn’t Lev.

“Oh! Right.”

Kei felt himself being moved down the hallway and presumably towards the flight of stairs. Deciding it was best not to struggle, he allowed his legs to follow. 

Stairs were not easy without the often taken for granted blessing of sight. Especially with two arguing idiots guiding him down them. Even so, he managed to blindly travel to the ground floor without too many casualties. 

Kei was usually annoyed by the fact that the muggle receptionist spent more time taking a smoke break in the parking lot than she did actually manning the front desk, but today he was grateful. Who knows what her reaction would have been if she saw two strange men leading one of the tenants out of the building with a sack over his head?

By now, Kei had figured out that the pair taking him hostage were most likely a part of Nekoma. He wasn’t certain why they found it necessary to kidnap him, but it was no surprise a guy like Kuroo would have such brainless goons in his gang.

He was led out the back door, and barely got to feel the chill of night air before he was shoved into a small car. 

“Can you at least remove the bag now?” Kei asked, his voice muffled by fabric, as Lev and Not Lev packed into the backseat on either side of him.

“I’m afraid it would ruin the element of surprise,” Not Lev explained apologetically. “Kuroo was very specific on his instructions.”

 _Of course this was all Kuroo’s idea_. Even far away in a holding cell half a mile below Kei’s feet, Kuroo managed to make his life miserable.

“Isn’t this exciting, Yaku?!” Lev whispered, not very quietly. 

“I just hope we’ll arrive without you distracting the driver and getting us into a wreck.”

“It was one time!”

“The driver hopes so too,” muttered someone from up front. _Why did his voice sound so familiar?_ Kei was desperate to remove the bag from over his head and find out who the mysterious driver was, but Lev and Yaku must have bound his hands to his sides with a spell sometime between exiting the stairwell and getting inside the car. He couldn’t move them. 

Without his sight, his other senses were more acute. Kei could hear the slightest movement of his companions, could feel warm breath near his cheek.

It didn’t take longer than a quarter of an hour to reach their unknown destination. 

“We’re getting out now,” Yaku informed Kei, allowing him to take hold of Yaku’s arm (the hand-binding spell must have been removed) as they exited the car. Kei’s opinion on Kuroo’s goons had differed slightly; at least one of them wasn’t brainless, or an idiot.

His feet crunched on gravel, and he was glad to have been wearing shoes and a sweater before he was torn out of his apartment. The cold wind prickled the back of his neck as Kei followed Yaku, Lev, and the driver towards wherever it was they were headed.

Kei heard the hinges of a door creak and he was ushered inside. The moment the door shut, Lev’s mouth opened, and didn’t close until Yaku told him with more than a little irritation that he would really like it if he stopped talking.

When he was finally free of that awful bag over his head, Kei found himself inside of a large, poorly lit room. Because of the tall brick walls, weathered concrete floor, and odd layout, he supposed it was an old factory or warehouse of some kind. There were over a dozen twin-sized mattresses, but they had been pushed to the side to accommodate an enormous black cauldron hanging over a fire pit that must have been conjured just for the occasion. The flames that cast everyone’s faces in an eerie glow were the only source of light in the room, so Kei’s eyes didn’t take long to adjust.

“Boys!” called out Yaku, who was much shorter and younger than Kei had imagined.

Leaping out of the shadows, as many young men as there were mattresses slunk towards Kei. 

“This is the pretty boy from the Ministry Kuroo told us about, right?” a guy of around twenty with spiked hair asked excitedly. 

“Who else would it be?” a boy with overtly outgrown roots murmured. “And I don’t think Kuroo would want you telling Tsukishima that.”

“Why's that, Kenma?” Lev asked. He, too, was completely different from how Kei had imagined. 

Kenma didn’t reply; he had become absorbed in a handheld game, his hair falling over his face. Someone behind Kei cleared his throat. 

“I, um, suppose we should begin the ceremony now.”

The owner of the voice interested Kei far more than the ‘ceremony’ he was speaking of. 

“You’re...Nobuyuki,” Kei marveled, now realizing why he had recognized the driver's voice.

Nobuyuki gave him a puzzled look, but then he smiled. “I’ll explain some other time,” he said, which cleared up nothing at all.

“Step back, everyone,” Yaku announced. “Give Nobuyuki some room. We don’t want any accidents like what happened during Lev’s initiation.”

Some of the men snickered, but the tall, green-eyed wizard looked embarrassed, for a change.

They situated themselves so that all of Nekoma stood on one side of the cauldron, and Nobuyuki and Kei stood on the other. Even through his clothes, Kei could feel the heat of the crackling fire burning against his legs.

“Kuroo usually- _always_ \- does this,” Nobuyuki told him, “But hopefully I won’t mess up too badly.”

He knew Nobuyuki was teasing, but even so, Kei felt more than a little uneasy. 

The cauldron was boiling before them. 

“Today we welcome a new member into our family. Treat him as a brother, as someone you would give your life for, knowing he would do the same in return.” If Kei wasn’t the one standing in front of a bubbling cauldron (which he was growing fearful wondering the purpose of), he might have scoffed.

“Give me your arm,” Nobuyuki instructed. 

Hesitantly, Kei held out his arm in front of him. Nobuyuki took it and held it above the sweltering cauldron. Kei gulped. 

“We are the body’s blood,” Nobuyuki began. He took a pocketknife and dragged it across the palm of Kei’s hand. Droplets of blood fell with a sizzle into the brew. Kei shuddered and looked away. “Flow smoothly and circulate oxygen so the brain functions normally.”

The group of young men, who had been silent this whole time, now cheered. Goblets materialized on a long, low table Kei hadn’t noticed when he first arrived.

This entire ceremony was something like what he envisioned a Death Eater initiation would be like, and that thought alone tied Kei's stomach into knots. He almost lost it when he saw Yaku beginning to pour the brew from the cauldron into awaiting goblets. 

“You’d better get one for yourself, as well, Tsukishima.”

Before long, they had formed a lopsided circle around the cauldron. Unanimously, they raised their goblets, and Yaku said, “Drink up.”

“What?” Kei hissed, to no one in particular. It was Kenma who responded.

“The potion ‘binds our hearts’, or something,” he murmured. “Kuroo’s very overbearing about unity and loyalty."

"Drink it," Nobuyuki urged. "It’s not as revolting as you would imagine. Or maybe I’ve just gotten used to the taste, after all of these initiations.”

Slowly, Kei raised the goblet to his lips. The beverage slid smoothly down his throat. It was tangy, and tasted faintly of alcohol and something else he couldn’t quite name. A pleasant feeling swelled in his chest, and he looked upon the members of Nekoma with a newfound fondness. 

By now, everyone else had downed their drinks and left the empty containers on the table. They were talking amongst themselves, glancing at Kei all the while as if they expected something of him. He felt slightly intimidated. 

“Alright, boys!” Yaku announced, turning to the group scattered about the room. “We don’t have much time to waste. Everyone who’s serving as lookout- that’s all of the muggles, in case it slipped your mind in the five thousand times we’ve gone over this- go with Nobuyuki. And be careful. Just because you’re not inside the building doesn’t mean you can fuck around. It’s important to stay on task.” Yaku was doing his best, but from the expressions of his teammates, it was clear he wasn’t usually the one giving the orders.

"Inuoka, Yamamoto, and...Lev, come with me. Kenma, um-” He glanced at Kenma, who was curled up on one of the beds playing his handheld. “I guess you just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Tsukishima,” Yaku said quietly as the groups began to dispatch themselves, “Let me see your hand.”

Though he wasn’t inclined to allow strangers to have free access of his limbs after getting his blood boiled, he held out his palm. 

Yaku pressed his wand against the cut across Kei’s skin, and he braced himself for pain.

Instead, he watched in bewilderment as the gash across his palm closed up and the dried blood disappeared. 

“Oh. Thanks.”

Yaku gave him a small smile.

 

The Ministry was eerie and oddly alive at night. There were still a handful of witches and wizards scattered about the building, working late shifts or participating in last-minute meetings. But for the most part, the building was silent.

Kei and the rest of the group crept through the halls with a resolute silence. There was a muting charm on their shoes, but even so, Kei sweated with every step, sure that he would be discovered, that they would see through his disguise somehow and he would be sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban for breaking a prisoner out of his cell and betraying the Ministry in doing so.

Or even worse, Yamaguchi would.

Kei had used polyjuice potions before. Almost everyone who had worked as an auror did, as much as it was frowned upon by the Ministry.

But on all of those occasions, he had been disguised as someone he didn’t know. It was different, with the weight of preventing Yamaguchi’s arrest on his shoulders. He knew Yamaguchi would never suspect _Tsukki_ , of all people, to be using him to his advantage. At least, not to Kei’s knowledge. 

He passed through the doors of the auror department trying not to tremble. Yaku and the others stayed behind, wands held in front of them protectively. Just as he raised his hand (Yamaguchi’s hand?) to give the all-clear signal, Kei heard someone else enter the room. 

“Yamaguchi?” Ukai called out blearily. “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

“I...um.” He cleared his throat. “I forgot to bring my case notes home, and there was an urgent matter I needed to look over.”

Ukai grunted. “You could have just called for an owl.” 

Kei waited for Ukai to resign to his office, but he seemed intent on watching Kei leave.

Awkwardly, he sauntered over and grabbed an unimportant-looking piece of parchment. He was halfway into the hall before Ukai added with slight concern, “Yamaguchi?”

“Huh?”

“That’s not your desk.”

 

Somehow Kei managed to escape, admitting that he’d ‘gone out to the pub with his friends’ earlier that night and wasn’t at his best.

By the time he returned, defeated, with a handful of Yamaguchi’s papers in his arms, the effects of the potion had begun to wear off.

Prepared for this, Yaku pulled a vial out of his coat pocket and handed it to Kei.

“Ukai’s in there,” Kei informed them as he took a swig of the disgusting mixture, his face contorting into a displeased look. “We’ll have to wait until he leaves.”

Lev, who had been struggling to stay silent throughout the entire mission, suddenly spoke. 

“This is so cool!” He said in what could be referred to as an attempt at a stage whisper. 

“Talk more quietly, Lev,” Yaku reminded, gentler than usual (though Kei suspected it was more because of their current situation than sole kindness). 

Per Yaku’s directions, Kei placed a concealment spell around the area of the wide hall the group was huddled in. 

Kei had spent a fair amount of time fretting about Yamaguchi’s non-consensual part in all of this. Selfishly, he feared Ukai would mention the midnight visit to the Ministry and Yamaguchi wouldn't know what he was talking about. Of course, his presumed tipsiness could be a definite factor in the state of his memory. 

Yaku pulled out a strange muggle device which Kei learned from Lev was a walkie talkie. He spoke abruptly into it, and received a crackly reply. 

“They’re wondering what’s taking us so long,” he sighed as he shoved the radio into his infinitely deep pocket. “This guy had better leave the office soon, or we’ll have to resort to unpleasant measures.” Yaku turned to Kei. “Are you certain there’s no other way to enter the cells?”

“None that I- none that Yamaguchi could access without suspicion.”

Yamamoto grunted. “I wish we could just apparate there. Then it could all be over and done with, and we could be home in time for movie night.”

“Movie night!” Lev and Inuoka blurted in usion, to which Yaku snorted.

“That would make our mission far too easy. And easy missions are no fun, right, Yamamoto? I believe you said so yourself a while back.”

“I guess so, but-”

The auror department’s door swung open behind them. 

Everyone held their breath. Ukai walked past as if they were nothing but thin air, whistling as he went. Halfway down the hall, silhouetted against the enchanted windows, he stopped in his tracks. Kei could have sworn Ukai looked right into his eyes, right through Kei’s dry humor, disguise, and fibs, straight to the coward he really was. The one who wasn’t afraid of noble things: death, loss, pain… No, what he really feared was…

“Tsukishima.”

“What?” he snapped out of his daze.

“He’s gone. Let’s go.”

Kei stared down the hallway, where the elevator doors were sliding shut. He stood, stretching, as his back groaned from sitting for so long, and followed Yaku into the department. 

They moved mutely through the maze of work tables and cabinets, the magical typewriters still typing away, even in the absence of their owners. Kei hastily replaced the papers he had taken from Yamaguchi’s desk and arrived in front of the looming doorway that led down to the holding cells. It was locked, of course. Knowing a simple alohomora spell wouldn’t do the trick, Kei tapped his wand against the keyhole. He murmured the password Ukai had given him the day he had taken Kuroo into custody. Sure enough, it unlatched with a satisfying _click_. 

Lev nearly tumbled down the stairs; Yaku had to hold him back by the collar of his shirt. “Wait, Lev. Let Tsukishima go first- there might be Ministry workers down there.”

“Right!” replied Lev, but he was having difficulty hiding his impatience.

He wasn’t the only one. Kei tore down the steps two at a time. It had to be almost one-thirty in the morning, and he wished to complete this mission as soon as possible.

Though he had been intoxicated on his last trip to Kuroo’s cell, Kei found it again without too much difficulty. Inouka, Yamamoto, and Lev scrambled to catch up. Yaku had stayed at the bottom of the stairs to watch for intruders. When he had told them this, Kei had found Yaku’s wording amusing; after all, weren’t they the ones intruding?

Kuroo was fumbling with a loose bedspring when they arrived, attempting to pull it out of his mattress (unsuccessfully). 

“Hi, Kuroo!” Lev blurted. Kuroo nearly sprang across the room.

“Jeez, Lev! Don’t scare a guy like that.” Despite his exasperation, he was grinning that cat-like grin Kei had come to abhor. “I hope you guys are here to set me free.”

“Unfortunately,” Kei said with only a little sarcasm. Yamamoto snorted.

Kuroo stuck his tongue out at Kei. “If I didn’t already know you were Tsukishima, the snarky attitude would give it away.” Seeming to just realize Yaku’s absence, he asked, “Aren’t you guys one member short?”

“Yaku’s waiting by the stairs,” Inuoka explained. 

“Okay, good. I was worried.” They shared a moment of silence before Kuroo raised his eyebrows. “So, are you going to let me out, or not?”

“I thought you’d be a little more grateful,” Kei muttered as he tapped his wand against the door, whispering a string of numbers. 

“I am!”

He smiled at Kei as the lock unfastened. “I am, really. I appreciate it.”

Kei grunted. “I’m sure you are. Let’s get going.”

Kuroo seemed disappointed at his reaction, but followed Kei through the winding passageways nonetheless. 

Yaku was pale when they arrived at the stairwell. “What’s the matter, Morisuke?” Kuroo teased. “Are you really that surprised to see me? That was the whole purpose of you sneaking into the Ministry, you know.”

Yaku shook his head prudently. Sensing that something was wrong, Kuroo whispered, “What is it?”

Yaku pursed his lips before replying, in the smallest voice Kei had ever heard, “They’re upstairs.”

“Who?”

“Dementors.”


	5. guessing game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "There is poison in the fang of the serpent, in the mouth of the fly and in the sting of a scorpion; but the wicked man is saturated with it." - Chanakya

“They weren’t supposed to come until tomorrow!” Kuroo said in a whisper, his voice shaking.

“Kuroo, it _is_ tomorrow. It’s two o’clock in the morning.”

“Shit,” he murmured. “I don’t want to go to Azkaban. I _can’t_ go to Azkaban."

He looked around at his companions. They were all fearful, but Kei was on the verge of making himself sick.

Abruptly, Kuroo’s distressed expression transformed into a smile. “Everyone, scatter.”

As if he had flipped a switch, the men around Kei began to transform into various breeds of cats. Only hesitating for a second, Kei followed suit.

Moments later, five cats and a lone crow raced up towards the auror headquarters. 

At the doorway, they were faced by two dementors and a single fearful Ministry official, on their way to collect the newest crop of dark witches and wizards.

Kei prayed the darkness would camouflage him; if the Ministry discovered it was a crow animagus who had helped Kuroo escape, it wouldn’t take long for them to find the culprit. 

He soared past the dementors, a feeling of immense dread passing over him as he did so. He spotted four cats rush past and into the department, but Yaku had less fortune than his friends. The last thing Kei saw before flying into the auror office was the Ministry worker grabbing a small, rust-colored cat by the scruff of its neck.

But they had no time to go back. They were in the elevator before they had time to _breathe, and even then it was only a moment’s pause before they were on the move again._

Safely outside, Kei’s weary wings grew back into arms, and the rest of his body soon followed. It was only as the others were returning from their feline forms that he realized one of them wasn’t a cat at all, but a lion cub.

“Kuroo!” Someone yelled in the distance. Nobuyuki ran up to them, followed by the muggle members of Nekoma. “I’m so glad you’re-” he frowned. “Where’s Yaku?”

“No time,” Kuroo replied, as pale and frightened as Yaku had been not long ago. “There were dementors- someone might be coming out at any moment.”

Nobuyuki froze. He turned to the group that had followed behind him and said, as calm as ever, “Alright, you guys. Drive back- I’m going to stay here for a while and wait on Yaku.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to stay here alone?” Kuroo asked Nobuyuki, though he was in no condition to face dementors. 

“I’ll be fine. If anything goes wrong, I’ll call.”

Kuroo nodded, and then turned to face the non-muggle members of Nekoma. “Okay, everyone. Let’s head back.” He took hold of Kei’s hand, who nearly leapt out of his own skin. It was only when Kuroo added, “Get ready to apparate to the warehouse,” and joined hands with Lev, Inuoka, and Yamamoto that Kei’s heartbeat slowed.

Wobbling slightly, Kei opened his eyes and found himself inside the building he had left not two hours ago. The cauldron and firepit had disappeared, replaced by the mattresses, now lined up across the room, and curtains hung from low rafters, separating them. “Everyone sleeps here,” Kuroo explained when he saw him looking around curiously. Kei realized he was still grasping Kuroo’s hand, and hastily released it. 

“Isn’t it a bit...lacking of privacy?”

“We get by on what little we have. Besides, there are plenty of places around here that someone can go to if they want private time. They’re just not really suitable for sleeping in.”

He seemed unfazed by the events that took place inside the Ministry. Kei wished he could read the emotions hidden behind Kuroo’s ever-smug face.

“I have my own room, but anyone is welcome there. It also serves as a storage area for potion ingredients.” 

The attitude of the warehouse was solemn. The members of Nekoma were settling into their beds, or heading down a small corridor towards what Kei presumed was the bathroom. Even Lev wasn’t talking much.

“I think...I should go.” The more Kei looked around at the grim faces of his ‘teammates’, the more out of place he felt. He was upset about Yaku, too, but even that made him feel phony. These people had known the guy for _years_. How could Kei, an upper middle class auror who had stumbled upon all of this by no more than a mistake and a persistent wizard, understand their suffering?

“There’s no rush.”

“It’s nearly three in the morning. I have work tomorrow. Or today, I guess.”

"Ah." Kuroo grinned sheepishly. “I kind of forgot about that.” He yawned. “Damn, it is pretty late. I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow about what your obligations are.”

_Oh, yeah. I kind of work for him now, don’t I?_

Kei apparated home without saying goodbye. 

Removing his glasses, he examined his face in the bathroom mirror. By now, his disguise had almost completely faded; all that remained were a few faint freckles across the bridge of his nose.

He wasn’t even twenty-six, but the events of the past few days had worn him down. He could easily be mistaken for thirty. 

He stepped into the shower with an air of remorse. It was nearly three-forty in the morning. In four hours, he would be getting ready for work. Kei supposed he could call in sick and get some extra sleep, but that would arouse unnecessary suspicion.

The warm water soaked his hair and ran down his cheeks, like artificial rain. 

His thoughts turned to Nekoma. In the beginning, Kuroo’s threat had been, “ _If you don’t want to wind up any worse than you already are.”_

When Kei read Kuroo’s note, his interpretation was that Kuroo would cause him to be worse off than passed out in a damp London alley late at night. But perhaps ‘worse off than he already was’ would be continuing to live a dull life as an auror, continuing to separate himself from from people and emotions, continuing to dissociate from the world.

Maybe that wasn’t what Kuroo had meant- more likely than not, it was just Kuroo being Kuroo- but that was the truth Kei had been running from. Which meant that he had willingly betrayed the Ministry, as well as Yamaguchi. As ambitious as he was, it wasn’t fame or a boost up in the ranks that Kei desired, and that’s what Kuroo had offered him when he devised the capture-and-escape plan. 

Although he had played it out in his mind as if Kuroo was _forcing_ him to join Nekoma, Kei had taken little convincing. Despite all of his efforts, in the end, _he_ was the bad guy. Not the innocent vigilante who had been involuntarily dragged along past the point of no return.

The seed of guilt that had been growing inside of him for so long burst into flower. For the first time in what must have been years, Kei cried. 

*

“I’m sure you’ve heard the news,” Daichi said, watching Kei settle groggily into his desk chair.

“That’s not a very pleasant morning greeting.”

Instead of replying, Daichi pushed a paper heavy with text in front of him. 

M I S S I N G F U G I T I V E R E P O R T  
F I L E D N O V E M B E R 1 5  
M I N I S T R Y O F M A G I C

_On the morning of November the fifteenth, [ T: 1:57 AM ] Ministry of Magic worker (Takanobu Aone, for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures) came through the Auror Headquarters along with two Dementors for the purpose of collecting the imprisoned Dark Witches and Wizards to be transported to Azkaban._

_Aone unlocked the door to the cells, [ T: 1:59 AM ] and as he and the Dementors traveled down them, five Unregistered Animagi presumably of Feline alignment surpassed him. One of these Animagi, who was soon discovered to be Tetsurou Kuroo, is a known Dark Wizard and Criminal and was captured on Tuesday by auror Kei Tsukishima, and tried on Thursday by Head Warlock of Wizengamot Wakatoshi Ushijima._

The report continued for at least another page, but Kei only skimmed through it briefly. He hoped his expression was unreadable as he handed it back to Daichi, silently thanking the heavens that Aone hadn’t seen him.

Kei pursed his lips. “Well.” 

“‘Well’ is right,” Daichi agreed. “You know what the proper protocol is for a situation like this, don’t you?”

“Interrogations, heightened security, and search parties,” Kei guessed.

“Correct. I really don’t think you’re to blame for this, Tsukishima, but but don’t be surprised if you get called down to the questioning room at one point or another within the next few days. We’ll probably be interrogating anyone involved with the case. Right now, we’re questioning Yamaguchi.”

Kei’s stomach lurched. “Yamaguchi?”

“Apparently, he was in the auror office a short time before incident. I doubt he’s the one who assisted Nekoma in Kuroo’s escape, though. He doesn’t seem the type. More likely than not, they found a way without inside help. Merlin knows they’re skilled enough to manage a feat like that.”

Kei nodded, but he wasn’t focused on the conversation. In his mind’s eye, he envisioned Yamaguchi in a dark room, being accused of treason by some old, grizzly witch or wizard who knew nothing about him other than his role as a suspect. Under pressure, Kei imagined Yamaguchi could confess to the whole thing, even though he had done absolutely nothing wrong. Except befriending Tsukishima.

Kei knew his only friend would begin to regret that soon enough, if he hadn’t already. It served Kei right, really.

Daichi noticed Kei’s distress, and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. This is in no way your fault.” Kei murmured something about not liking being touched, but the words that threatened to escape his lips were, “ _It’s all my fault it’s all my fault it’s all my fault.”_

Kei began avoiding Yamaguchi. He supposed he could have been less blatant about it; when Yamaguchi returned from his interrogation, Kei skirted clear across the office and into the bathroom. 

In two days time, he was certain every single one of Kei’s coworkers was aware of his refusal to interact with him. It wasn’t anything against Yamaguchi personally. He just couldn’t face him again without the contrition tearing Kei apart. 

Yamaguchi, of course, noticed. But instead of diligently pursuing Kei to ask what was the matter, he hung his head. When Kei passed by him, he still looked expectant, though it was subdued. As if he felt he didn’t deserve Kei’s acknowledgement. It got to the point where Kei gave a weak smile every time they made eye contact, which befuddled Yamaguchi even more. 

On the third day, Yamaguchi approached Kei when he was reading over the court record of Kuroo’s trial for the hundredth time. 

“Tsukki?”

Kei glanced up at Yamaguchi, chewing on the inside of his lip. “Hmm?”

It was strange to see him so distressed and worrisome; though Yamaguchi was like this on his own more often than not, it was never because of Kei. If anything, he was more confident with himself when he was with him. Kei had never understood how he brought that out in him.

“I- I know you’ve been avoiding me.”

Kei opened his mouth to respond, but Yamaguchi didn’t allow him to continue. “Don’t lie. I know it’s true. And really, I don’t blame you. But-” he took a breath, his voice shaking. “Even if you hate me for the rest of your life, I just want you to know that I didn’t do it. Help Kuroo escape, I mean. Please believe me, Tsukki, I would never do something like that, I-” By now, half of the department’s eyes were on the two of them. 

“I believe you, Yamaguchi,” Kei told him, because he didn’t know what to say that could ever allow him to forgive himself.

“Tsukki!” And then Yamaguchi was engulfing him in a tight hug, his tears wetting Kei’s shoulder. 

“I don’t deserve a friend like you,” Kei murmured as Yamaguchi detangled himself. 

“What?”

“Nothing.” _I’ll have to tell him, someday. I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t._

Though Kei knew it was inevitable, he couldn’t help but groan when he saw Kuroo sitting cross-legged in front of his door when he got home from work.

“Hey, Blondie,” he greeted. 

Without reply, Kei stepped over Kuroo and unlocked his door. 

“Can I come in?” he asked, following inside without waiting for an answer. 

“I didn’t say you could.”

“Well, can I?”

“Shut the door behind you.”

Kuroo obliged, tugging off his jacket and slinging it haphazardly on Kei's coat rack. He wore ragged jeans and a too-tight black shirt. 

“Why don’t you ever wear wizard clothes?” _And isn't it a little dangerous for you to be visiting?_

“Wizard clothes?” Kuroo asked teasingly.

“You know what I mean. Robes.”

“I’ve never found a reason to.”

“They’re supposed to help you channel your magic better.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not sure how much of that is truth and how much of it is advertising."

“Suit yourself,” Kei grunted, making his way towards the kitchen. Kuroo followed close behind him.

“Tsuuukki!” Kuroo crooned. “Was that a pun?”

“I didn’t mean for it to be.”

“Don’t you like puns?”

“Hate them.”

He grinned. “I’ll have to make sure to use them more often, then.”

“Great.” Kei pulled a packet of ramen out of the cupboard and began boiling water. Kuroo looked at him in alarm. 

“Is that all you’re eating?”

“Yes…”

“No wonder you’re such a stick!” Kuroo shoved past him and opened the refrigerator. It was empty except for a styrofoam box of leftover takeout and a half gallon of milk. “You’re kidding me.”

“What?” Kei glanced over his shoulder to look at Kuroo, who was currently opening all of his cabinets and growing more horrified by the second. “It’s just me here. I don’t need a lot of food.”

Kuroo snatched the ramen out of Kei’s hands and turned the stove off. “You are _not_ having this for dinner.”

“Yes, I am.” He made a move to snatch the package back from him. Kuroo held it above his head, which didn’t really work, considering Kei was half a centimeter taller than him. 

“No, you’re not.” He set the package down on the counter. “Can’t you cook anything other than instant noodles?”

“Of course I can cook,” Kei replied sheepishly.

“Oh, my God!” A grin spread across Kuroo’s face. “You can’t cook!”

“It’s not that,” he responded, now embarrassed. “I just choose not to cook.”

“You’re full of dragon dung,” Kuroo laughed. 

“Fine. I can’t cook.”

“I’m glad you’re finally being honest.”

Kei rolled his eyes. “Well, what now? I don’t have any other food. Unless you want three-day-old fried rice.”

“We’re not having old takeout, or ramen. I’m going to make you dinner.”

“Can _you_ cook?” 

“How do you think I keep over a dozen hungry street kids fed? They may be poor, but they sure as hell are picky.” 

“Okay, okay.” Kei retired to his small kitchen table, taking a seat in one of the chairs a safe distance away from Kuroo. “Where are you going to get food? It's not the best idea for a wanted man to be wandering the streets.”

“You underestimate me.”

Kuroo pulled out his wand; it was a knobby one, most likely oak or maple. He waved it across Kei’s countertop, and moments later, an array of packaged food appeared. 

“Where did you conjure that from? Some muggle grocery store? That’s stealing, you know.” 

“Relax. I got it from the QuikMart where Nobuyuki works. I’ll pay him back the next time I see him.”

“So what Nobuyuki said during the trial… it was true?”

“All of it. It’s...a complicated affair, really. I’d rather he explain it to you than me.”

Kuroo began sorting through the groceries. Kei assumed this wasn’t the first time he had taken Nobuyuki’s job to his advantage.

“What are you making?” Kei asked as he began to pull pots, pans and knives out of cupboards and drawers as if he had lived here all his life.

“Mackerel pike.”

Kei wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like fish.” 

“You’ll like this.”

Kei sighed. He supposed Kuroo wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. He wandered into the living room. Usually by this time, he had finished his dinner and was on the couch reading or looking over case files. He opened a binder full of cases he had taken on back in Tokyo, and quickly became engrossed in the report he had written as a far less experienced auror trying to capture a dark witch who only struck on the full moon. Maybe his past successes would distract him from his present blunders. 

Kuroo interrupted far too soon. 

“Man, your apartment is so _clean_.”

Kei closed his book. “Are you finished cooking your gross fish?”

“They aren’t gross. And no, I’m not.”

“Shouldn’t you be attending to them?”

“I just wanted to check in on you.”

“Well, I’m fine.”

“Alright.” Kuroo turned on his heel and went back into the kitchen. Kei wondered briefly if he had upset him.

Before long, Kuroo returned, bringing two steaming plates of mackerel pike with him. 

“Your dishes are so cute,” he noted as he set the plates down on Kei’s coffee table. “They have little strawberries painted on them.”

Kei’s ears burned as Kuroo joined him on the couch. “My mother bought them for me when I first moved out.”

“Well, your mother has good taste.”

“I guess.” Kei lifted his respective platter off the table. He could feel warmth radiating from the dish. “I hope you plan on washing these when you’re done.”

“Hey! I made you dinner.”

“I could have made myself dinner.”

“You didn’t say no.”

“I didn’t encourage you to, either.”

“You were supposed to say, ‘ _I can’t say no to you’_ ,” Kuroo told him in a mocking tone.

“Shut up," he snapped, but he was smiling. 

*

"Why did you really come here?” Kei asked. Their now-empty plates sat on the table. “I assume it wasn’t just to cook me dinner.”

“Well, you’re a member of Nekoma now, honorary more than official. But even so, you’re still obligated to go on missions and help us out.” He pulled a crumpled letter out of his pocket and handed it to Kei, continuing to speak as he did so. “You’re lucky you were even labeled as ‘honorary’; some of the boys have differing opinions about you joining.”

“Why?” Kei asked as he read over the parchment. It described in detail how, when, and where he was to deliver a batch of potions. 

“You know. The class issue. They were all kicked out of their homes, or left, and joined Nekoma because they had nothing else. And I would agree with them, under different circumstances. But it was only a matter of time before I was caught, and having someone who’s on the inside _and_ an experienced auror helps more than they’ll ever know.” He groaned. “I wish the Ministry realized I didn’t have a _choice_. I’m trying to help people, not hurt them. I know I’m a ‘dark wizard’; I accept that. I’m the bad guy, the villain, whatever. But there’s a rhyme and reason for it. The wizarding world isn’t as black and white as they try to make it out to be. The world in general, really; the muggle police are beginning to refer to us as a ‘drug ring’.”

“You _are_ hurting people, though. What about Michimiya’s brother? About the auror you _killed?_ Kuroo, you just left Yaku to _die!”_

Kuroo opened his mouth to reply, but Kei continued, in a voice so full of spite his teeth could have been dripping venom, “Oh, that’s right, I forgot. You only care about people when it’s _convenient_ to.”

“That’s not fair-”

“When has anything ever been fair? Life isn’t fair. You should know that especially, Kuroo.”

“Tsukishima, what on _Earth_ set this off?”

“I-” he paused, regaining control of the words that had been flying out of his mouth. “I don’t know.”

Kuroo said slowly, “I don’t think this is about me.”

“What do you think it’s about?” Kei asked, still contentious. 

“I’ve only known you for a short time, so I don’t know what it is, specifically. But when people get worked up over nothing-” seeing Kei prepared to make a remark, he added quickly, “Not nothing, but something that shouldn’t cause as much of an uproar as it does- there’s usually a different reason why they’re upset.”

“Oh, really,” Kei replied dryly. “You must be a psychiatrist.”

“I’m serious.”

“And so am I! This isn’t about me, Kuroo.”

“You only call me by my name when you’re angry.”

Kei refrained from rolling his eyes.

“Listen, Tsukki. I came here to assign you a mission. But I’m also kind of concerned about you.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “You sound like my brother.”

“You can tell me what's wrong, you know."

Kei remained silent, pursing his lips.

“Is it about the other night? Are you afraid people will suspect you of being involved?

“...Or does it not have anything to do with that?

“Did your grandmother die? Did you get robbed? Did you learn a shameful secret about your family? Did you lose a bet? Did your girlfriend break up with you?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“He speaks.”

“And- you were right the first time. But it’s not so much as I’m afraid people _think_ I was involved, as much as…” 

“As much as you _were_ invovled.”

“Yeah.” 

Kuroo ran a hand through his ever-messy hair, settling back into the sofa. “That’s understandable.” 

“But it’s mostly Yamaguchi I’m worried about.” 

“Yamaguchi? The guy who you used to make the polyjuice potion?” 

Kei winced at Kuroo’s blunt utility of the word ‘used’, but he nodded. “Initially, I befriended him solely for that purpose, but I ended up actually...growing kind of fond of him. And now I’m afraid he’s going to be sent to Azkaban because of me. Or- or he’s going to find out, and he’ll hate me.” 

“Don’t you think if he found out, and understood the circumstances of _why_ you did it, he would still be friends with you?” 

“But that’s the thing! I convinced myself you were forcing me to help you, though...that wasn’t really what was happening. I had all of the freedom not to go along with your plan, but I did anyway.” 

Kuroo smiled, and the close proximity to his abnormally sharp canines was slightly terrifying. “You just realized that?” 

Kei glared at him. 

“Sorry- it’s just- I thought it was kind of obvious.” 

“It should have been. But I was being naive.” He rubbed his tired eyes, and glanced up at the clock. It was nearing nine, already. “What was more clear to me was why you wanted me to join Nekoma. Though it was a fairly dumb reason, in my opinion.” 

“And what do you think the reason was?” 

“Because I work in the Ministry, right? For someone like you, an inside operative would be useful.” 

Kuroo laughed. “You sound so professional. And yes, you’re right, to an extent. That was only one of the reasons, though. The other reason is probably even more idiotic.” 

“What was it?” 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

“Don’t be such a child. Just tell me.” 

“Maybe I don’t want to.” 

“ _Kuroo.”_

“You don’t need to know.” 

“Then why did you bring it up in the first place?” 

“Jeez,” Kuroo huffed, standing. The indentation he had left in the sofa from sitting so long remained. “I dunno. It’s late.” 

“Is this really late for you?” 

“I already warned the boys they would have to make their own dinner, but I doubt they can manage doing the dishes by themselves. Last time, well…” Kuroo sighed. “Let’s just say I should get back as soon as possible.” 

Without another word, he left, and Kei’s apartment seemed more cold and empty than ever before. 

The instructions Kuroo’s letter contained seemed long and potentially dangerous, and something any one member of Nekoma could easily do more efficiently than Kei. But he knew this was more of a test than an urgent mission. 

Yamamoto met him at the gate of the warehouse. The building was smaller than he had imagined; only one story, and just a little larger (though much taller) than an ordinary house. It was in an area of London where all of the buildings were old and most of them abandoned, so it blended in well with the surrounding cityscape. 

“Here,” he said, handing Kei a small, unlabeled chest. Yamamoto was different from his usual rambunctious self. Kei knew this had something to do with Yaku. He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded curtly. He didn’t know what to say. _’Sorry your friend was taken by the Ministry and is either being interrogated or lying dead somewhere, maybe even still in cat form?'_

So he silently took the chest and appearated away. 

When he read the address in the letter, Kei thought Kuroo must have written it wrong. It was located in Diagon Alley, which wasn’t surprising, but _Flourish and Botts_? What could a book shop possibly want with these? 

He walked down the cobbled street, feeling slightly claustrophobic at the proximity between the buildings. Some witches and wizards glanced skeptically at the chest under his arm, but most of them were carrying much stranger objects and couldn’t be bothered to judge. 

Making his way through the bookstore, he quickly became lost amidst the shelves. It wasn’t very busy; it was only mid-November, but he knew in a few weeks, it would be full of crowds buying Christmas gifts. He had been in here once before, the day after he had moved into his current flat. Back then he had been relaxed. Today, he was shaking in his shoes. 

“Um,” he said as he approached the counter, having finally escaped the maze of shelves. 

“Um?” 

"I’m with Nekoma.” 

The clerk gave him a look like she didn’t know what he was talking about. “Sorry, I might have the wrong store-” 

“Come with me.” She scurried towards a door hidden between two bookshelves. 

The room’s only source of light was a dull lamp in the corner. Kei was beginning to grow weary of all these dimly lit rooms. 

A witch in her early thirties wearing thick, blue velvet robes that seemed to swallow her whole was hunched over a low table, mending books. She raised her head when Kei approached, smiling when she saw the container in his hands. The clerk left Kei and the woman to her own devices and returned to the main room. 

“I’m Saeko,” she said, taking the chest from where Kei clutched it and setting it down on the table, her long, darkly painted nails contrasting with the sand-colored wood. She examined the contents. 

“Are you new?” She asked, still rifling through the small vials the chest contained. “I haven’t seen you deliver before.” 

“Oh. Yeah.” he watched, mesmerized, as she pulled a shiny silver coin purse out of her desk drawer. 

“Tell Kuroo there’s extra there for last time, too,” Saeko said as she handed him several galleons. 

Kei secured the galleons inside the pocket of his robes. Saeko had already returned to mending books. She glanced at him. “Well, what are you waiting for? Scram!” 

He blinked, beginning to back out of the room. “You look- really familiar.” 

“No, I don’t.” Her lips spreading into a predatory grin, she added, “I’m sure I’d remember you."

He probably couldn’t have chosen a worse day to miss work. The moment he arrived the next morning, he was ushered downstairs. 

Kei knew it wasn’t meant to scare him. This interrogation was mandatory because of his involvement in the case. Even so, he shuddered in the cold, wooden chair he was seated in as Saitori Tendou looked down at him expectantly. Kei returned his gaze. 

“So,” he began, seeming amused as Kei squirmed, “Where were you the evening of November the fifteenth?” 

“Morning.” 

“What?” 

“It was the morning of November the fifteenth. Unless you meant the night before, which would make it November the fourteenth.” 

“You know a lot about this for someone who wasn’t there.” 

“Of course I do. I read the file.” 

Tendou moved on to the next question. “What was your affiliation with the fugitive?” 

“I captured him and imprisoned him. And he’s not ‘the fugitive’. His name is Kuroo.” 

“You seem awfully defensive of someone you’re supposedly working against.” 

“ _You_ seem to have no idea what you’re talking about. All you do is jump to conclusions, and there’s no logic behind your guesses. It’s all assumption.” 

“Which I happen to be very good at.” 

Kei snorted. “If you say so.” 

“The only reason a suspect has to be defensive is because they’re guilty, or have done something deserving of guilt.” 

“I’m not defensive!” 

“See?” 

“This is going nowhere.” 

“Only because you’re being _defensive.”_

The interrogation only went downhill from there. 

* 

The auror headquarters proved to be gloomy and still. As winter approached, dark witch and wizard crime crawled to a near standstill. Everyone amused themselves by organizing stacks of parchment or revising case files. Whenever an owl swooped in, all eyes would look up expectantly, praying that they would be assigned a task to complete; the easy days only felt relaxing for so long. Kei sat at his desk, tapping his foot impatiently, worry lines etched across his forehead. 

Yamaguchi returned from his second interrogation looking pale and nauseous. Kei met his eyes in alarm as he passed by, and Yamaguchi didn’t have to ask what he was wondering. 

“They’re using veritacerum now. Tendou wants you to come back tomorrow, first thing in the morning.” 

Kei knew he was in for the moment the word ‘veritacerum’ reached his ears. He couldn’t withstand a potion that forced people to tell the truth; not when the truth could cost him his career, or his life. 

_I need Yamaguchi to know the whole story. Merlin knows what kind of rumors they’ll spread about me once I’m locked up for good._ That was the only thing on Kei’s mind when the shock had subsided. But by this time, Yamaguchi was seated far across the office at his own desk, and Kei hadn’t the courage to tell him in person. 

He began constructing a letter. It had been years since he had written one formally. By the time he had finished, his wrist sore and his ink bottle empty, it was nearing seven and everyone else was packing up and heading home. 

Not trusting the Ministry owls, Kei gave the letter to Yamaguchi himself. Well, it was more that he thrust it at him as they were exiting the lift. 

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi looked up at him in surprise. “What’s this?” 

“If I’m sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban tomorrow, you might as well know the truth.” 

“Tsukki, wait-” Yamaguchi’s cry was in vain; Kei had already disappeared, green smoke billowing from the fireplace he had hopped into. 

* 

Kei had never been religious, but he found himself reciting a prayer in his mind as he walked down the dark and winding hallway. 

Something had changed about Daichi since their last interaction. As Kei followed him to the room where he would soon be questioned, he disregarded Kei’s obvious fretting. There were no words of reassurance. Not that Kei deserved any, but Daichi didn’t know that, did he? Kei wondered in horror if Yamaguchi had told the whole department about his shameful betrayal. 

The interrogation chamber seemed impossibly gloomier than the one he had been inside during his first questioning. If Kei hadn’t already known what kind of trouble he was in, the tall ceiling fading away into darkness and the chair blotted with rusty red stains would have given him a clue. 

When Daichi left, handing the keys to the wizard coming through the door, it wasn’t Tendou that faced Kei. The Chief Warlock of Wizengamot himself loomed in the doorway looking as stupefying as ever. 

Kei clenched his teeth as Tendou walked through behind him. Holding the vial of veritacerum in one hand, he slammed the door shut behind him with the other. 

“You know why you’re here today, don’t you, Tsukishima?” Ushijima’s stern voice echoed across the room, with nothing to bounce off of but the cold, concrete walls and the chamber’s three occupants. 

“Come on, Ushijima, skip the formalities,” Tendou replied impatiently. “You know as well as I do that it’s a waste of our time, and I really want to know what this guy sounds like unfiltered.” 

“It’s still mandatory,” Ushijima replied. 

“Yes, I know why I’m here,” Kei told them, the ancient chair squeaking in protest beneath him. “I’m a suspect in Tetsurou Kuroo’s escape, so you’re interrogating me. Again.” 

“Fair enough,” Tendou noted. Ushijima glanced at him tiredly, before turning his attention back to Kei. 

“I’m afraid we have to use veritacerum this time, because it appeared you weren’t being completely honest during your first questioning. Do you consent to this?” 

Kei got the feeling he didn’t really have a choice. “Yes,” he said, struggling to keep his breathing steady. 

Tendou unscrewed the vial’s lid impatiently and instructed Kei to “open wide”. Kei neglected not to make a face as a droplet of the bitter potion slid down his throat. 

After that, everything was hazy. It was a strange sensation, having words escape his lips against his own free will. 

“How did you come to know Tetsurou Kuroo? What is your relation to him?” 

“I was assigned to capture the leader of a group who was selling potions illegally. I met Kuroo soon after. I thought he was a muggle. He-” Kei’s voice was interrupted by the sound of a commotion going on somewhere upstairs. After the noise died down, he continued. “He invited me into his house for a drink. I accepted because I found him... appealing. 

“He ended up poisoning me. I woke up in an alley a couple of hours later.” Tendou raised his eyebrows at this. 

“He left me a note, and it said to meet him at Nelson’s Column if I ‘didn’t want to wind up any worse’ than I already was. I told Ukai, and went with Yamaguchi, but Kuroo didn’t show up.” 

How long is this going to _take_?” Tendou groaned. 

“Even longer if you interrupt,” Ushijima said dryly. 

Kei bit down on his lip so hard he tasted iron to prevent himself from continuing, but to no avail. “Kuroo spoke to me again through the Floo Network, and invited me to visit him a second time. He told me he wanted me to become a member of Nekoma-” 

Kei had been so out of it, he hadn’t even noticed the door open. Tendou and Ushijima froze. A stupid grin spread across Kei’s face that he would look back on with regret later. He had never been more happy to see a dark wizard with an awful bedhead. 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Kuroo asked, in response to Kei’s startled expression. “Let’s go!” 

END OF PART ONE 


	6. the lost boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "the godless are the dull and the dull are the damned." - e. e. cummings

PART TWO

“How did you get in here in the _middle of the day_?” Kei asked in amazement, his voice barely audible.

“Long story,” Kuroo whispered back. 

Kei glanced around at the dark storage room they had by some miracle managed to escape to without being followed. It was the same place he had telephoned Kuroo in. That felt like ages ago, now. 

“If we’re going to be stuck in here all day, it looks like we have time.”

Kuroo shrugged. He was being uncharacteristically quiet, but Kei didn’t want to comment on it fear of finding out why. Kei felt his mouth open against his own will. “You know, at first, I thought you were annoying. But- I mean- I've given up everything for this."

“Tsukishima.”

“I’m not sure how I-”

“ _Tsukishima_.” 

“What?”

“I’m not Kuroo.”

“Oh. Oh. Okay.” Kei felt heat rush to his cheeks. “Who- wait. Who the hell are you, then?”

“Nobuyuki.”

“Why-”

A shout echoed through a nearby corridor, and they both fell into abrupt silence. Kuroo- _Nobuyuki_ \- lowered his voice.

“I was scheduled for an interrogation today, an hour before yours. I may be a muggle, but I’m still involved with the case. So of course, Kuroo asked me to help out with your situation. I didn’t want to ruin my reputation, hence the disguise.” He shook his head. “You have _no_ idea how hard it is to smuggle a polyjuice potion into the Ministry, though.”

“But Kuroo’s appearance would cause even more of an alarm, wouldn’t it?”

“After I told him I wouldn’t be risking myself for this, Kuroo suggested the idea. I think he just wanted to stir up trouble.” Nobuyuki smiled tiredly. “As usual.”

“If he wanted to stir up trouble, why didn’t he come himself?”

“Kuroo’s a lot of things, but he’s not an idiot.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“I’m serious. He wouldn’t have taken a risk like that if he knew it wasn’t worth it.”

“And I’m not worth it, to him?”

“...I think that’s something you should discuss with Kuroo yourself.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

Raising his eyebrows, Nobuyuki said, “Wow. The veritacerum must be wearing off.”

*

By the time the hands of Kei’s pocketwatch lined up on the twelve, all that remained of Nobuyuki’s disguise was a slightly disheveled bedhead. He passed the time by examining the contents of the dust-ridden shelves. Some of the items he recognized; others he didn’t.

A note was taped to an old, weather-worn walkie talkie. It read, ‘ _Some sort of communication device. Makes strange crackling sound when not in use. 1963._ ’ Kei was reminded of that fateful night inside the Ministry, and, by happenstance, to Nobuyuki’s speech. “Hey, Nobuyuki?”

“Hmm?” Nobuyuki set down the faded _Life_ magazine he had been reading. 

“How…” Kei paused, considering. “How exactly did you come to stay with Nekoma, despite what you said at the trial?”

“It’s a long story.” Nobuyuki leaned back against a dining chair, but it groaned in protest, and he quickly straightened up. “Maybe even longer than the one I told then. But the basic premise of it is, while I did want to leave, I couldn’t abandon the boys. They’re the only real family I have. Besides, Kuroo tries his best to educate the new muggle members about magic, but it’s confusing coming from someone who’s been exposed to it since a young age. I felt obligated to be their teacher.

“So we worked out an arrangement; I’m allowed to live in my own home, away from the warehouse, and live a relatively ordinary life. But no matter what the situation, I’ll always be on call if they need me.”

“How did you save up money to buy your own house? Weren’t you busy with Nekoma?”

“I’ve known Kuroo nearly as long as Yaku has. He allowed me some privileges he didn’t give the other members. I started taking up odd jobs all around. And even after all of my hard work, my neighborhood isn’t Beverly Hills, or anything.” Kei had no clue what that was, but he nodded for Nobuyuki to continue. “In fact, I think you’ve been to my house before. Kuroo uses it sometimes as a secondary base, when he doesn’t want people to know his real location.”

“That was _your_ house?” 

“Is it really that strange?”

“It’s just- he seems so at home there.”

Nobuyuki laughed. “He’s at home anywhere there’s food and a place to sleep.”

Kei grunted. 

Nobuyuki patted Kei’s shoulder, which surprised him. “You know, Tsukishima, when I first met you, I thought you were kind of stuck-up. But really, you’re a pretty cool guy.”

Kei barely had time to reply before he was temporarily blinded by lights suddenly flickering to life.

“Anybody in here?” a voice called out.

“Terushima, if Kuroo were in here, you would have scared him off by now.”

“Wha- there’s nowhere to escape, though! This is the only entrance!” 

“He’s _Tetsurou Kuroo_.”

“Hmph. Whatever you say, Kuribayashi. But I’m checking anyway. It’d be nice to have a little excitement in our department for once!”

“There’s excitement enough, with you guys running around in the storage rooms all the time like they’re your own personal playground. It's a miracle the Minister hasn’t fired you yet. Maybe it's because I’m here to keep you in check.”

“The Minister isn’t concerned about anything but his health anymore. I’m surprised his grandson hasn’t taken over.”

“Keishin Ukai’s a stubborn man. He won’t budge from his position as head of the auror department, even for his own grandfather…Look, Teru, you’ve got me blabbering again. Let’s hurry up and check.”

Nobuyuki and Kei hastily clambered under a table. It was a vain attempt, but as Terushima stated moments ago, they had no other means of escape apart from the entrance. 

The witch was the first to approach. Kei held his breath as she passed by, but she didn’t even glance at their hiding place. Terushima wasn’t satisfied by an abrupt search, though. He tore through drawers, cabinets, and even the basket of a bicycle that leaned against the wall. (“You aren’t going to find him in there, Terushima.” “You don’t know that!”)

By the time he crossed the room to where Kei and Nobuyuki hid, Kei knew they were in for it. As he ducked his head under the table, his eyes widening when they reached its occupants, Kei's wand was already in his grasp and the word ‘stupify’ leaving his lips. Stunned, Terushima fell to the ground, and Kei made a break for it, Nobuyuki close behind him. 

A silent apology in his eyes, he stupified Kuribayashi, as well, before racing out the door. 

“Tsukishima, that was amazing!”

“Not really. It was necessary,” he replied, slowing his pace as they turned the corner- right into three Ministry officials.

He staggered back several steps, overtly aware of the trio of wands aimed in his direction. He had to be quick, had to get out of here fast, before he was condemned for his traitorous acts. And yet, and _yet_ -

“Stupify!” 

The _thump_ of his lean frame crashing against the marble tiles resonated through Kei’s skull. 

*

Someone was shaking him awake.

“Tsukishima! _Tsukishima_!”

Kei slowly came to his senses. “How long was I…”

“Only a few minutes. Come on!”

He was pulled roughly to his feet, and nearly tripped over the torso of a witch lying face down in front of him. Turning to Nobuyuki in astonishment, he asked, “What did you do?”

Nobuyuki smiled wearily at him. “I may not have magical powers, but I do know how to pack a punch. A potion may have helped too. Let’s hurry!”

Kei took a long look at the three Ministry workers sprawled out in front of him before following quickly behind Nobuyuki. “What sort of potion?”

“Draught of Living Death.”

“What?!”

“It puts them in a sleep-like trance that can be mistaken for death-”

“I know what it does! But doesn’t the sleep last indefinitely?”

“Not if someone finds them.”

He halted at the bottom of the stairwell to catch his breath, heartbeat unsteady inside of his chest. _What happened to me?_ Kei wondered as he glanced up and down the hall to ensure that there was no one coming their way. _I used to be so uptight and cautious, and now I’m running around with criminals and betraying the very institution I vowed to protect._ He didn’t have time to linger on his thoughts, though, for Nobuyuki pulled on his arm, motioning for him to head up the stairs. 

Kei frowned. “This is the way to the owl roost.”

“I know.”

When they reached the top of the stairs, Kei was slightly bewildered to find Yamamoto guarding the entrance to the roost, adorned in expensive-looking wizard’s robes. “No entry, we’re having the floor cleaned- oh, hey, Nobuyuki! It’s about time. I think the Ministry employees were starting to grow suspicious of me.”

“Hey, Takedora. Is everyone set up?”

“Yep! Ready to go.” He moved aside to let them pass. Kei found the roost was, in fact, not being cleaned, though it desperately needed to be. The place reeked, and the straw that covered the floor was filthy and clotted together in large chunks. 

Nobuyuki stood below the chute that allowed the owls transport in and out of the Ministry. Immediately, Kei recoiled. He didn’t like where this was going.

“Lower the rope, guys!”

“Are we really going to climb out? This doesn’t seem like a very solid plan.”

“Do you have a better one?”

At this, Kei paused. “Don’t they have protective spells on all entrances in and out of the Ministry, to prevent people from doing exactly what you’re doing?”

Nobuyuki blinked. “Of course they do. Do you really think that they just allowed you to saunter in the night you and the others rescued Kuroo? Yaku was practically glued to his desk for three days trying to come up with a spell to counteract the ones already in place.”

“But-”

“If there’s one thing the Ministry doesn’t lack, it’s confidence,” Nobuyuki interrupted as he adjusted the rope that was dangling before him, testing its strength. “They trust too much in their own power, and are afraid to admit when someone might have the means to oppose them. That’s why they put off announcing Voldemort’s return for so long, back when you and I were still in diapers. And they would _never_ suspect a muggle like me could be able to help you escape.” He eyed the doorway, where Yamamoto was tapping his wrist urgently, and then looked back at Kei. “You ready?” 

Kei nodded, re-adjusting his robes nervously. He stepped forward to grip the taut rope Nobuyuki was holding out to him, and slowly clambered up to the bright light of day, several pairs of feline-like eyes boring down on him as he scaled the chute.

*

As soon as they arrived at the warehouse, Kei stormed through the door and began walking with purpose down the hall and across the large room at the end of it. The space was the same as it had been when he was last there. It seemed different, though; brighter, somehow, despite Yaku’s foreboding absence. And it wasn’t just because it was daylight outside. 

“Hey, kitten!” Kuroo greeted with that smile of his, all teeth and overwhelming sincerity. “I take it everything went well?” 

“Yeah, fine,” Kei snapped, not breaking pace.

Kuroo glanced at Nobuyuki in a silent _What’s with him?_ Nobuyuki simply shrugged.

Kei moved swiftly through the entrance to Kuroo’s bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He heard a muffled call of _”Hey, that’s my room!”_ but chose to ignore it. He just needed a place to be alone. The afternoon wasn’t even halfway through, and it was already leading up to be the longest day of his life. He slumped down on the floor mattress, tears already burning in his eyes. _Damn, the second time I’ve cried in such a short span of time_ , he thought bitterly. _I’m becoming sensitive._

But instead of tears, sleep came to him, washing over like the tide jutting against the sharp bank of a river.

He dreamt of his first interrogation. But instead of Tendou, it was Yamaguchi. And the questions he asked Kei revolved around why he had betrayed him, whose side he was on, and what his feelings were for Kuroo. He was grateful when he woke.

“Rise and shine, Buttercup,” said a voice near Kei’s ear. He opened his eyes with a groan. 

“Buttercup?” he asked Kuroo, who was seated on the side of the bed, causing the mattress to dip. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

"Your hair is buttercup yellow, isn't it? Also like the Powerpuff Girl. You kind of have the same personality." 

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Kei took note of the small box in Kuroo’s hand. It read _Britton Street Bakery_. “What’s that?”

Kuroo grinned deviously and opened the box, revealing a slice of strawberry shortcake, the fruit glistening under the light of the single bulb that dangled from his ceiling. Kei’s stomach rumbled. He hadn’t had anything to eat, save his morning coffee. But that was hours ago, now. “How...how did you know?”

“You had a recipe for it taped to your fridge. I took a wild guess.”

Kei forced his gaze away from the pastry. “You were in my flat?”

“It’s too risky for you to go there on your own. There were five wizards standing outside when I went.” He held up a plastic grocery bag that had been sitting beside him. “I brought you some of your clothes.”

The idea of Kuroo reading the papers on Kei's fridge, rifling through his dresser, and doing Merlin knows what else in his apartment didn’t exactly comfort him. “Isn't it even more risky for _you_ to go there?”

“Not if I’m Kenma.” 

“ _Ugh_.” He leaned back on what he presumed to be a pillow, and proceeded to bang his head against the wall, an unpleasant exclamation leaving him. “What is it with you guys and your polyjuice potions? Do you just have a bunch laying around at your disposal?”

“You’re exactly right. We keep batches for each one of us available, in case it’s required for a mission or some other event.”

“What if someone uses it against you?”

“If we don’t have trust in each other, we don’t have anything.”

Kei frowned at this. He wasn’t sure he trusted even half of the members of Nekoma, especially with Yaku gone. And he was fairly certain he’d be staying here for a while, now that he was presumably a wanted criminal.

Catching Kei’s distraught expression, Kuroo asked, “So...do you want some strawberry shortcake?”

Defeated, Kei obliged. 

*

“I’ll cut you some slack this time,” Kuroo said as they exited his room, joining the rest of Nekoma in the main room of the warehouse (or the lounge, as he insisted on calling it), “Since it’s your first day here. But tomorrow, you’ll be on dinner duty as well.”

“Nobuyuki’s not having dinner with us?” Kei asked as he followed Kuroo into the kitchen. 

“No, he left hours ago.” 

The kitchen was fairly large. Long ago, it had probably been used to cook meals for those who worked in the warehouse, when it was still a factory and not a storage area for moving supplies, and then the home of a dozen criminals. It was a rectangular space lined with stainless steel counters, several ovens, a walk-in freezer, and sinks. It was kept clean, and was probably the nicest room in the entire building. The nicest-smelling one, too; Kei’s mouth watered as the scent of his soon-to-be dinner reached his nose. 

Yamamoto and someone who was introduced to Kei as Shibayama were stirring two pots over the stove. 

“Who’s on dish duty tonight?” Kuroo asked as he began unloading bowls from one of the cabinets. They were of all different designs and sizes, as if they had been collected from hundreds of thrift stores. No two bowls were the same.

“I...I thought it was Fukunaga?” Shibiyama replied, dishing chili into bowls as Kuroo held them out to him. “And Lev?”

“Oh, that’s right. Shouhei will have to make sure Lev doesn’t break anything.” He took a test taste from one of the bowls. “Needs more spice.”

“C’mon, it tastes fine how it is,” Yamamoto whined. “Let’s just eat. I’m starving.”

“Alright, alright,” Kuroo agreed, still eyeing the food pensively. “Help me carry these out.”

Kuroo took a seat next to Kei at the long, low table in the center of the room. No one sat at the head. It took a beat for Kei to realize he was sitting where Yaku’s place had been. The creaky old chair was even slightly smaller than the others, though no less worn. It seemed the furniture must have been salvaged from thrift shops and garage sales, as well.

It was like an enormous family reunion. They told stories as if they hadn’t seen each other for in years, even though they spent most of their time together. Kei felt out of place, but not because he wasn’t welcomed. They asked about how his escape had gone, and what it was like working for the Ministry. His answers were short and straight to the point. They laughed at jokes he hadn’t even meant to make, and although he still felt like the odd man out, they certainly tried to make him feel at home. Even so, he was relieved when Lev and Fukunaga began clearing the dishes away and the curtain dividers were put up to separate the beds. 

Kuroo went off to clean a box of used potion bottles, and Kei found himself wandering to Kenma’s space. He was the only one who hadn’t asked Kei some prodding question during dinner, and he wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or take it as a hint the guy wanted to be left alone. 

Most of the boys had a chest or small shelf of belongings next to their beds, but Kenma’s space was bare, save a stack of Nintendo games and a few books. Kei peered down at the boy skeptically, and Kenma turned his attention away from his phone. “Hi.” He seemed bothered.

“Hi.” Kei sat on the floor beside Kenma. He should have thought this through; neither of them were sociable. They sat there in silence, until Kenma, sensing Kei wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon, asked, “D’you want to play Fruit Shoot?”

 

“It looks like the two least approachable people on Earth have formed a friendship,” Kuroo mused as he returned from his task. “Plotting against me?”

“We’re playing a game, Kuroo,” Kenma huffed impatiently. “And just because we’re interacting doesn’t mean we’re friends.”

Kei grew distracted from the screen and ended up losing their match. Not that it mattered; he would have lost regardless. So far, the score was 25-2. 

“Bonding over Kozume’s favorite pastime, I see.” Kuroo joined them on the bed with a wry smile.

Kenma switched his phone off. “What is it you want?” He could read Kuroo’s motives far better than Kei. 

“I was just going to ask Kei where he wanted to sleep.”

“Anywhere is fine,” Kei replied, ignoring how appealing his name sounded on Kuroo’s tongue. “Just somewhere with some privacy.” He nodded to the area around them as a counterexample. 

“You can sleep in my bed again, if you want. I don’t mind the floor.”

“I can’t.”

Kuroo lifted Kei’s chin up gently so their eyes met, and Kei could feel blood rush to his face. 

“Hey. You’re a part of the family now, and you’ve had a really long day. So let me do something nice for you, for once?” 

Kei wanted to argue that Kuroo had done plenty of nice things for him- far more than he deserved- and most had been without prior consent. Instead, he moved his head out of Kuroo’s light grasp, and answered, looking down, “Okay. Fine.”

*

“Man, I haven’t shared a room in a long time,” Kuroo sighed wistfully as he set up a mat next to the bed Kei now resided in. “Reminds me of my Hogwarts days.”

“You shared rooms at Hogwarts?”

“Yeah.” Kuroo began settling into his new sleeping space, wrapping a worn floral sheet around him. “In the boys’ dormitories, everyone in the same year and house shared a room, so there were about five of us. Kozume didn't have a bed, so he always shared with me or just slept on the floor.”

“Why didn’t he have a bed?”

Kuroo’s eyes were far away. “He just didn’t.”

Kei decided not to ask for further clarification. “What were the dormitories like where you went to school?” 

“We each had a small room to ourself,” Kei told him. “At Mahoutokoro, they didn’t want any mischief between the students, and they believed everyone should have a peaceful place to study. The cherry wood wand students got the best dorms; everyone else was jealous of them.”

“‘Cherry wood wand students’?”

“Cherry wood wands are prized, and anyone who had one was honored and got special privileges. My brother had one, and he always let me visit his dormitory. He graduated at the end of my first year, though.”

“That’s bizarre.”

“I guess.” Kei stifled a yawn. “Can you turn out the light?”

“Sure.”

The gentle sound of Kuroo’s breathing soon lulled Kei into a restful sleep.

 

Breakfast the next morning was a disarray of jumbled plans for the day, with “Can you pass the salt”s and “You should eat more, Kozume”s scattered between them. As Kuroo was under a self-dictated house arrest until the search for him died down (and, by extension, Kei as well), he was left to rely on the rest of Nekoma to deliver potions. His second in command was M.I.A., leaving Nobuyuki as the mission leader. He arrived around noon, and was greeted heartily at the door. It was clear the boys both respected and envied him, perhaps because he had an outside life. 

“How come you don’t go on any missions?” Kei asked with a sidelong glance at Kenma when the warehouse was all but empty.

“Don’t want to,” Kenma answered simply.

“Kozume’s the mastermind behind all of our plans,” Kuroo bragged with a grin, reappearing from the kitchen. “He has no need to go on missions, anymore.” He raised his eyebrows at Kenma. “Though he would be extremely useful…”

“Bug off, Kuroo,” Kenma replied with an agitated look, retreating to his bed.

“It was just a suggestion!” Kuroo called back, shaking his head as he collected the remainder of breakfast dishes from the table. Kei joined him.

 

“Have you ever washed a dish in your life?” Kuroo teased as yet another piece of silverware slipped out of Kei’s grasp and into the soapy water that filled the sink. 

“I usually just use my dishwasher,” he murmured. “And back at home, either the house elf did them or one of my parents enchanted a sponge to do the job for us.” 

“What did you come from, a pretentious pureblood family?” laughed Kuroo, taking the plate Kei was holding to dry it with a rag. Their fingers brushed momentarily.

“Yes, actually.”

“Wait, really?”

“My parents weren’t as stuck-up about it as the rest of my family, but ‘maintaining the bloodline’ and ‘undiluted heritage’ were bored into my mind throughout my childhood nonetheless.”

“Jeez. Snobby, pureblood Tsukki. I can’t even picture it.”

Kei cast him a glare. “Don’t.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Kuroo began drying another dish, and the topic was dropped. Kei couldn’t say he preferred the cold silence that replaced it.

 

Another day, another evening of a wild dinner where comedic tales were shared of their conquests of the day. _”And you should have_ seen _Lev, he jumped twenty feet high when it happened, I swear...”_

Another night in a shared bedroom, speaking aimlessly before sleep overtook them both. Kei was starting to get used to the routine, despite his growing cabin fever. 

On his third night there, he awoke sometime in the cusp between darkness and daylight. Fumbling for his glasses on the floor beside him, he came instead upon the arm of his newfound roommate. Kuroo was shaking. No, shivering. It was now December, and as the warehouse had no heater, they might as well have been sleeping outside. 

“Kuroo.” Kei nudged his arm. “ _Kuroo._ ”

“Hn? What?” Kuroo gazed up at him sleepily. “What is it?” 

“You’re freezing.”

“I’m fine.”

“Kuroo, you were shivering in your sleep.”

“Was I?” 

“Stop. I’m being serious.”

He shrugged, not in the slightest bit deterred. “There aren’t any more blankets. It’s okay, I’ll live.”

“Not if you get hypothermia, you won’t!”

“What do you want me to do? Steal blankets from my friends?”

Kei pursed his lips. “You can share the bed with me.” He expected Kuroo to give him a suggestive look, but instead, he asked, 

“Is that really okay?”

“Look, I don’t want to wake up and find my host has turned into a popsicle.”

“Aw, you care about me.”

Kei rolled his eyes, though he wasn’t sure if Kuroo could see it in the blackness of his bedroom. He hoped not; that way, he wouldn’t notice how red Kei’s ears were, either. “Get in before I change my mind.”

Kuroo obliged, and Kei scooted over to make room for his chilly companion. It was a queen-sized mattress, so it wasn’t too crowded. He found his eyes fluttering closed, when…

“Fuck- _Get your freezing feet away from me!_ ”

Kuroo stifled a laugh. “Whoops.”

*

In the considerably less cold late morning when Kei awoke, Kuroo had already left, his spot on the bed still warm. Kei slowly sat up, changing into another set of clothes from his bag beside the mattress. He was running low; he would have to wash some soon. _Do they even have a washer in this place?_

Distantly, he heard a commotion in the other room. It was more rigorous than the usual breakfast conversation. Perhaps Nobuyuki had joined them. 

But when he opened the door and approached the dining table, they were all crowded around a lone figure, stooped in a small chair. He was soaked to the bone, his hair matted and his clothes sticking to his skin. Someone had put a quilt around him, though it didn’t seem to have helped much. As Kei joined the group, their guest turned to face him. His tired eyes crinkled in an attempt to smile.

“Hey, Tsukishima,” Yaku greeted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mahoutokoro is an actual wizarding school in the Harry Potter universe, though there is not much information on it. Some details came from my own imagination, and may not be true in regards to JKR's vision of the school (though the cherry wood wand bit is true, for the most part).


	7. i am not my brother's keeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "We all must suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment." - John Rohn

Before moving to London, Kei had loved the rain. the smell that lingered before a storm, the crackling of thunder, the cozy feeling it gave to wherever he happened to be staying. But too much of a good thing, he mused as as raindrops pounded on the roof of the warehouse, can make it unbearable. 

Kuroo and Yaku hugged a lot. Kei wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It was understandable, though; he was nearly as happy to see Yaku as everyone else was. Yaku was the only one who made Kei feel like he belonged in Nekoma. Kuroo tried, and for that Kei was grateful, but Yaku made it seem so effortless. As if Kei had been a part of their little band of misfits his whole life.

Everyone insisted that Yaku explain why it had taken him so long to return. After he had changed into dry clothes and eaten, he humored them. Kei, sitting on the edge of Kenma's bed, feigned disinterest. 

“Guys, it’s really not an exciting story. The wizard let go of me after I bit him, and I ran off. But it all seemed way too easy. I don’t know- as if they were just allowing me to escape. Even though I had temporarily deactivated their protective spells, no one tried to come after me. I probably could have strolled out of there if I wanted to. 

"I got the overwhelming feeling that someone was following me, so I decided to lay low for a few days, because I knew that if I was being watched, it was because they wanted me to lead them back to Kuroo.”

Kei expected numerous interruptions and barrages of questions. Instead, it was so silent he could hear the faint sound of Kenma clicking buttons on his PSP.

“When I thought it was safe to return, I did.”

“Where did you _sleep_?” Kuroo asked. The concerned expression he wore hadn’t left his face since the moment Yaku had arrived.

“Oh, anywhere I could find that was suitable. Under porches, in alleyways, at really obscure little motels… I tried the Leaky Cauldron once, but that proved to be a bad idea.”

“ _Morisuke_!” Kuroo whined, throwing his arms around Yaku.

“Hey-! Tetsurou, it’s okay, I swear!” Yaku pushed him away gently.

“Well, I think this calls for a celebration.”

Kei turned. He hadn’t even noticed Nobuyuki leaning against the doorframe of the lounge. In moments, he and Yaku were embaracing. Kei didn’t think he had seen so many hugs before in his life.

“A celebration sounds great!” Lev chirped, receiving several nods of approval. 

“How about a little later, guys? I think I’m due for a very long nap. In a _real bed_.”

*

As amusing as it was to see Kuroo trying to make conversation after over-indulging in firewhiskey, Kei soon grew weary of the affair and and retired to the bedroom. He amused himself by reading one of the few books Kuroo had, tuning out the rambunctious noise of the party. He hadn’t had much to drink himself; only a butterbeer, and while that made his tastebuds tingle, it did little to alter his self-awareness.

He could tell Kuroo wasn’t big on literature. The volume Kei was reading now was some sort of fantasy fiction piece, and the pages were crisp and untouched. 

It seemed he was destined to be interrupted every time he got lost in a good book, for just as Kei reached chapter two, the door swung open quietly.

Yaku gave him an apologetic smile. “Hi.” He took note of the novel open in Kei’s lap. “Sorry for interrupting.”

“It’s fine.” Kei closed his book with a sigh of defeat. “Got tired of the party?” he asked, trying his best to make friendly conversation. He didn’t have much experience in doing so, though, and fell flat.

“I’m not much of a party guy.”

“Me neither. Bad things always seem to happen when I go to parties. Or anywhere near alcohol.”

Yaku simpered. “Tetsurou told me about that day at his holding cell.”

Kei grimaced. “Of course he did.”

“Um.” Yaku shuffled his feet. “That was actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What?” He frowned. “Me getting drunk?”

“No, not that. Though that would probably make an interesting conversation for another time. I wanted to talk to you about Tetsurou.”

“Ah, yes,” Kei hummed, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “One of my favorite topics.”

“Kuroo is very good at suppressing negative emotions- almost as good as you are at suppressing positive ones. But really, he’s easily overtaken by them. Even if he seems like he’s as chipper as ever, don’t let it fool you.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I just assume you’ll be spending quite a bit of time together. And… he doesn’t really come to me about his problems, anymore.”

“Alright. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Yaku looked relatively satisfied, and nodded to Kei. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“One more thing, though, before you go.”

He was already halfway out the door, but Yaku turned back to meet Kei’s eyes. “Yeah?”

“When did you two break up?”

*

Kei’s cabin fever grew steadily worse over the course of the next few days. He discovered that magic was only to be used when there was no other way of completing a task. Otherwise, Yaku explained to him patiently, it was disrespectful to the Muggle members of Nekoma. Upon hearing this, Kei felt like an ignorant dunce. It didn’t help his case that he nearly dropped a stack of plates moments later. 

His only comfort was the knowledge that Kuroo was just as fidgety as he was. He had spent the better part of the past two days staring out the window, casting bitter glares at the heavily falling snow.

“It’s too soon to risk it,” Nobuyuki told him sternly when Kuroo begged to tag along on an outing. He and Yaku had taken over as the mission leaders for the time being, with determined Ministry search parties working madly around the clock in hopes of snatching up the enormous reward for Kuroo's capture. Rumor had it they were out for Kei as well, but the prize wasn’t nearly as grand. He took slight offense to that.

“I don’t see why we can’t just pop outside for a minute,” Kei sighed as he secured victory on his twenty-third round of wizard chess against Kuroo.

“I’ve got to keep my word. What kind of example am I setting for the younger members if I break my vow?”

“They won’t be back until seven or later. No one will ever know.”

"Gee, and they think _I'm_ the one who turned _you_ to the dark side. Still…” Kuroo eyed the cauldron bubbling in the corner.

“Your Weedosoros potion won’t be done brewing for another half an hour. Come _on_ , I’m going mad in here. I don’t even like chess.”

“Me neither.”

 

“What if someone sees us?” Was Kuroo’s hesitant question as they burst out the door into the vast, snow-covered abandoned parking lot that surrounded the warehouse. “I don’t really want to go to Azkaban. I hear they don’t even have air conditioning.”

“Neither do we, dumbass. And since when are you the one fearful of getting caught?” Kei huffed impatiently as he wrapped a wool scarf around his neck. 

“Fair enough.”

Kuroo was wearing fingerless gloves and his hands were already growing pink, but he began packing snow into his palms anyway. 

Kei looked beyond the warehouse out across the cityscape, watching thick puffs of smoke billow out of a distant factory. When he turned back, he felt cold sting his face. Kuroo snickered triumphantly. 

“Hey! You could have knocked off my glasses!” He quickly formed a snowball in his hands, preparing to return fire.

His robes soaked with slush, Kei cleaned his lenses off with the edge of his scarf. When he put them back on (not before Kuroo threw another mound of snow his way, despite Kei’s complaints of unfair advantages), several blurry figures before him came into focus. 

“Glad to see you two are having fun,” Nobuyuki said in a troubled tone, his teammates looking just as solemn as he was. 

“The mission was a setup,” Yamamoto sighed bitterly as he approached. “They stole our goods.”

“Shit…” Kuroo chewed on his lip, unsure how to reply. “I’m so sorry, I wish I could have been there to help-”

“You might as well have been,” Yaku interjected, “Since you seem willing to throw your safety away just to play around in the snow.”

He trudged past him towards the door.

Kuroo gave Kei an _I told you so_ look before following his friends back inside.

 

Just like that, Kei’s sour mood returned. He knew no one blamed him for goofing off. Most of them believed it to be Kuroo’s idea. But, of course, that didn’t change the truth.

He watched Kuroo glumly from a sagging brown armchair that rested beside the shelves of empty vials. The way Kuroo brewed potions was meticulous, and carefully guided by steady hands. He didn’t believe a word of Ukai’s gambit from over a month ago, when he had claimed that the wares were ‘poorly made’. More care went into Kuroo’s cauldron than that of the Potions final of a prefect.

Swallowing his pride, Kei asked, “Can I do anything to help?” 

He received nothing but silence.

 

He had to admit Kuroo was thorough. Never once did he speak to Kei, and when it was necessary, he used Kenma as an informant.

It went on like this for a full day before Yaku stepped in.

“Alright. This has to stop. I don’t know what you two are fighting about, but it’s childish and it’s bringing down everyone else with it.

“Tsukishima, Nekoma’s most treasured value is cooperation. If there’s an issue, we sort it out immediately and we move on with our lives. And you, Tetsurou Kuroo,” he said, jabbing a finger at the accused, “You of all people should know better than this.” Yaku shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m having to be the mediator for you two.”

The pair hung their heads, but no attempts to reconcile were made.

Yaku looked down at the folded parchment in his hand. “Tetsurou, you’re already aware of this, but we have two tasks tomorrow, one of which requires a lot of people. I know Kenma suggested that Fukunaga and Takedora take the second one, but since we’re already down two people, we would really be cutting it short.” He gazed up at Kei and Kuroo expectantly. “I want you to do it. Maybe it’ll fix whatever marital feud you’re having.”

“What- we’re still wanted fugitives, though!”

“You didn’t seem too concerned about that when you were out having a snowball fight like first-years. I’m just saying, if you’re going to be taking risks like that, it might as well serve a purpose.”

“Fair enough.”

They both turned to Kei.

“What do you say, Tsukishima?”

He gave a noncommittal shrug. “I don’t see why not.”

*

The house was raggedy, bleak, and long ago abandoned. Whatever insulation it once had was gone, and Kei shivered as he stood inside the entryway. 

“Hey, listen,” Kuroo began, stopping Kei from heading into the next room. “I’m really sorry about yesterday.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I was being idiotic and blaming you when you were just trying to help. I think that being stuck inside for so long made me act off. I just- I hate letting Nekoma down. Even over something like that.” 

“It’s fine,” Kei repeated, walking past him towards the darkened room. The place was eerily familiar. It reminded him of childhood memories he’d rather not relive. “When is the guy supposed to come?”

“Five. We still have a few minutes to kill.” Kuroo set down the heavy chest he had been carrying. 

Kei was feeling increasingly uneasy; he half expected someone to leap out of the shadows and snatch him.

_”Can I come along next time you catch a bad guy? Can I, please?”_

_“I told you, it’s too dangerous.”_

_“Hmph. Then, can you tell me the story about the witch with two wands you defeated again?”_

_“Sure, Kei. But after this, it's bedtime, okay?”_

Unable to sit still, Kei wandered through the empty, waterlogged hallway, trying to steady his breath. He could hear the faint _drip_ from one of the numerous leaks inside the walls, and the scent of mildew and rotting wood overwhelmed him. In the other room, Kuroo hummed an unidentifiable tune, but that seemed miles away. The ancient floor creaked and groaned beneath his feet as he took cautious steps forward.

And suddenly he was thirteen years old again, kicking and screaming as a Ministry official dragged him away from the bodies of a two wizards, his wand still clutched tightly in his hand. Kei's glasses had been broken at some point in the last half hour, and everything was blurred even further by the tears in his eyes. 

His cries of _"I didn't mean to!"_ and _"He killed Akiteru!”_ were all that filled the broken-down house as he was carried away from the lifeless form of his brother.

 

“Tsukishima?” he felt himself being gently shaken. “Kei?”

“...Huh?”

“You spaced out for a minute. You were hyperventilating. And…” he examined Kei’s wetted cheeks, “Crying?”

“Sorry.” Kei wiped away his tears, somewhat humiliated. “I’m okay.”

“You’re shaking, and you look like you just saw a boggart.”

“I might as well have,” he mused, attempting to pull himself together. “Is our client here yet?”

“No, and I don’t think he’s going to show. We should just go.”

“But what about…”

“We can always reschedule.” Kuroo placed a guiding hand against Kei’s back. “You need to lay down somewhere.”

*

_"The Killing Curse is not something so young a boy should be capable of using," was the jury's descent. ”Are you sure it wasn't his brother who attacked the Death Eater? He was an auror; he should have been more than capable."_

_"It's just two words. I think that's something you all keep forgetting. However heavy their effect is, in the end, it's just two simple words and the flick of a wand that can end someone's life. Any wizard can perform such a spell, regardless of age or experience."_ Kei had rather liked his attorney for the reason that she expressed her will so clearly. While she was potentially admitting Kei of charges he would carry with him for the rest of his life, he couldn't help but admire the way she had with words.

In the end, he had been charged with nothing; his crime had simply been deemed as an act of self-defense. Although Kei walked away free, he had never felt more cheated in his life.

 

“Do you at least want to tell me what happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Kei replied, staring down at the tea Kuroo had insisted on making him. The warmth of the mug stung his hands, but he didn’t care. “I just had a flashback. This tea isn't poisoned, right?”

Kuroo leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, the space between them on the edge of the bed growing smaller. “A flashback of what?”

Kei continued to stare wordlessly into his beverage.

“You don’t have to tell me. But I think it’s good for you to talk about it with someone, if just a flashback affected you that much.”

He took a sip of tea- a mistake, it scalded his tongue- and released the breath he had been holding. “It was my brother. Akiteru. When he died.”

“Kei, I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t be.” he set down his mug on the floor and rose. As he sauntered across the room, he added, “I’m not mad at you or anything. I just need some air. This is really...I really...don’t. Want to talk about it.”

“It’s fine.”

Kei swallowed the lump in his throat. _No, it’s not._

 

Following dinner, Kuroo approached Kei outside the warehouse. He held a glass of butterbeer and wore a small smile.

"Hey." He sat next to Kei at the edge of the parking lot, on the only patch of concrete that was bare of snow. "You told me something about yourself, so can I tell you something about me?"

"Be my guest."

Kuroo gazed up at the sky. It was covered with clouds and a dull shade of pink, reflecting the lights of the city back down on its residents.

"I really like you. I admire your courage- don't roll your eyes, it's true- and I think you've accomplished a lot more than you give yourself credit for. Without you, I would be rotting in Azkaban right now."

"That's not true."

"You don't think some other auror would have tried to capture me if you hadn't taken the job? And they probably would have, too. As much as I brag, I'm not very good at hiding my tracks."

" _That's_ true."

"I'm complimenting you here!"

Kei snickered. "Sorry. You're just too easy to tease."

They sat there in the quiet chill of an early winter night, passing the butterbeer back and forth as they tried to keep warm. 

"I wish those damn lights would turn off," Kei muttered irritably, staring in distaste at the orange glow of the buzzing lampposts that filled the empty lot in front of them. They probably once served as useful assistants during nighttime deliveries, but now they proved to be more of an annoyance than anything else.

"As you wish," Kuroo complied, and promptly flicked his wand at the offending lights. Instantly, they dimmed and slowly faded to darkness. Kei, now safely cloaked by night, hummed in amusement.

"I keep forgetting you can do that here. Magic."

Kuroo laughed. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Your world is so different from my own. It always slips my mind that it's still part of the same plane of existence."

"I guess you've never really been off the grid, huh? Always somewhere, doing something." Kuroo passed the glass of butterbeer back to Kei, who finished it in one gulp. 

"I don't know what I'm doing with my myself." he turned to Kuroo. “I came here so that I could be a better auror, but I fell so easily and I don’t think I can ever go back to being who I was. I’m not sure I even _want_ to.”

"I'm always here. You're not alone, you know."

Kei pursed his lips. "Don't...don't say stuff like that."

"Why?" There it was again; that contagious grin. 

"Because. It's off-putting."

"Sorry," Kuroo replied, though he didn't seem to be.

After a few minutes without words, the only sounds that reached their ears being a dog barking somewhere off in the distance and sirens wailing far away in downtown London, Kuroo spoke.

"Hey, Kei?"

"It's Tsukishima."

Kuroo pouted. "Haven't we leveled up to a first-name basis, by now?"

Kei shrugged. "What did you want to ask?"

"Mmm." Kuroo leaned back against the wall of the warehouse, shuffling the snow-soaked gravel beneath his feet. "Why did you become an auror?"

“I had to.”

“Why?”

He turned away. “I don’t think you would understand.”

“Tsukishima, stop being so reclusive and tell me this one thing. I know there’s a good reason for it. You don’t seem the type whose aspiration is to hunt down dark wizards and witches for a living. No offense.”

“...I really loved my brother. I really, really did. I wanted to be everything that he was. A Quidditch player, a prefect, and then an auror. I thought he was amazing at everything. I wanted to come along with him when he was arresting all the ‘villains’- all who seemed so much more simplistic and with only evil intentions. He would tell me these great stories about all these adventures he had gone on. I don’t think even half of them were true, but back then, I believed every word. 

“So one day, I decided to follow him. He went to this creepy old house outside of town. He entered the room, and there was this horrendous Death Eater standing there, looking out the window, smoking this nasty-smelling cigar. I was peeking out from the shadows, and neither of them noticed me.

“I expected him to get the guy like he did in all the stories he told me. You know, like, have this epic battle, stupify him, then emerge victorious. But as soon as he saw the Death Eater, he froze.

“By now, he had noticed Akiteru, and he glared at him like he was some annoying mosquito or housefly that wouldn’t let him be. And he lifted his wand, and just like that, my brother was gone. And I screamed, and pulled my wand out of my pocket, and I ran in there with all of my post-traumatic anger and I said those two words, and then it was done. I just sat there, sobbing over Akiteru, and some Ministry officials came a while later and dragged me off." He picked at the label on the butterbeer.

“Afterwards, I didn’t have that same undeniable wish to become an auror. It seemed like a shitty and terrifying job. I felt an obligation to, though, because whenever I used to tell Akiteru that I wanted to be just like him when I grew up, he would get this huge smile on his face and he seemed so, so proud. So I felt that I should honor him by keeping my word.”

Kuroo held his arms out, and Kei caved. 

“I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk,” Kuroo whispered as they sat there, warming one another with the heat of their breath as they rested their heads on each others' shoulders.

“Shut up,” Kei sniffed, pulling away.

“I’m being serious. I’m really glad you told me all that, Tsukki. And I think you are, too.”

“Maybe.”

*

After all the risks Kei had taken the day before, apparating into his apartment to retrieve fresh clothes and take a shower somewhere other than the grimy stalls in the warehouse seemed like walking through a field of sunflowers.

His anticipation to use real shampoo and conditioner lessened slightly when he found the pile of letters that had accumulated inside his doorway. As he picked them up for closer examination, he realized every single one had been sent by Yamaguchi.

The latest one was slightly confusing, so he began with the first.

_Kei,_

_I know you probably won’t be reading this anytime soon (by the time you do, this won’t matter anymore), but I thought I should keep you informed._

_I showed everyone your letter, and told them about how Kuroo had bribed you into working with him. It took a lot of work (especially to convince Tendou and Ushijima), but they’re sending out a search party to find you and rescue you from wherever he’s keeping you. I really hope you're okay!_

_Your friend,_

_Tadashi_


	8. my soul, you frightened bird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “If you desire healing, let yourself fall ill.” ― Rumi

“You’re a blanket hog!”

“You’re worse than I am! And you refuse to apologize for anything you do!”

“If you’re so fed up with me, why did you make me come live here in the first place?”

“If I didn’t, you’d be rotting in Azkaban right now!”

“ _So would you!”_

Kei was shaking. He hadn’t been this angry in a long, long time. Of course, the center of the warehouse wasn’t the best place to have a heated argument. Everyone else was keeping their distance, trying to grab breakfast from the kitchen without disrupting the flaming wall of emotion that encompassed Kuroo and Kei.

Yaku appeared with a bowl of cereal in one hand and examined the scene. “...What the hell are you two going on about?”

They both looked at him in surprise, as if just realizing that life was still continuing on as usual outside of their dispute. 

“Well…” Kuroo paused, attempting to recall the source of their disagreement. “Kei refuses to even consider going to Akaashi’s birthday party.”

“And how did _that_ turn into _this_?” Kei never imagined he would find a man standing five foot five in Sanrio pajama pants terrifying, but somehow, Yaku pulled it off. 

“Words,” Kuroo gulped. “Words. Were exchanged.”

Yaku sighed, shaking his head. “You two are a mess.”

 

Kuroo left with the others not long after to replenish supplies, and Kei was left behind, as usual. How they managed to pull of the feat of gathering the necessary eel eyes, jobberknoll feathers, salamander blood, and Merlin knows what else was still a mystery to Kei. He knew it involved the tedious task of skirting about Diagon Alley without looking conspicuous, buying a little here and there, and when times were tough, going so far as to retrieve the items themselves. Kei had heard many a tale of the horrendous labor that came with pickling slugs. He was certainly glad he hadn’t been subject to that responsibility yet.

He grimaced at the idea of capturing slimy creatures and watching them ferment on lonely shelves for months as he returned to the bedroom, sapped of energy from his dispute with Kuroo. Kenma gazed at him speculatively when passed by his bed, and Kei lowered his gaze, embarrassed by the expression that he had just made.

Contrary to Kei’s first impression of him, Kenma did an immense amount of work. Though video games took up most of his free time, he spent several hours of the day illustrating and writing elaborate plans for missions. Some were more complex, with maps drawn to determine the arrangement in which the potions would be delivered most discreetly, while others required only a basis for where and when they would be meeting their client. 

Kenma didn’t participate in real missions himself, though, for reasons Kei still did not understand. But he didn’t press him; he assumed the answer would come when Kenma was prepared to give it. 

For once having no potions to brew, Kei was left to his own devices. He pulled out the envelope he had been carrying everywhere for the past few days, and re-read the letter inside for the umpteenth time. _Should I tell him?_ he wondered, still unsure of himself. But what good would it do? Kuroo already knew the MInistry was after him. Neither of them had any certainty of what Kei’s fate would be if they were found, or even where he stood in terms of criminal, accomplice, or innocent bystander who got swept up with the wrong crowd. 

There was a part of him- and overbearing part of him- that knew he had to share the contents of the letter. Although it was partly Kuroo that had gotten him here in the first place, Kei certainly hadn’t resisted. He had made foolish, impulsive, and selfish decisions that led him to betraying the Ministry and having a monster of his own creation tear his life apart by the seams. And after all that occurred, Kuroo, instead of abandoning Kei, had offered up his home, his bed, his _life_ for him. Kei couldn’t say he had no feelings of gratitude for the wizard; in fact, Kei had so many feelings for Kuroo, he didn’t know what to do with them, or where one ended and another began. He feared them, even. More than he feared Azkaban. More than he feared death.

He folded up the letter and placed it back inside the envelope, only just realizing his hands were shaking. 

*

The boys returned early in the afternoon with their usual array of rowdy conversation, soon replaced by complaints of hunger and an abrupt parade into the kitchen. This was stopped quickly by Yaku, who reminded them they’d have to wait if they wanted to have enough food left for dinner.

“Hey.” Kei looked up in surprise; it appeared Kuroo had discovered his hiding place.

“Didn’t think I’d find you up in the rafters.” 

Kei examined a possible escape route past Kuroo and down the walkways’ ladder, but decided it wasn’t worth the risk. There was only railing on one side, and Kei didn’t have his wand with him to save himself if he slipped. He closed his book.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t.” 

Kuroo grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about earlier. I just really hoped you’d want to go; I’ve kept you cooped up in here for so long, I wanted to compensate for it.”

“If you’d worded it that way instead of just telling me I was going, maybe I would have responded differently." 

“Yeah, I”m sorry. I just got excited about it.”

Kei sighed. Why was it so difficult to say mad at this guy?

Kuroo took his sigh as an invitation and perched next to Kei, looking out across the main room of the warehouse where his friends lounged about far below. 

“But I really would like it if you came to the party.”

Kei glared at him.

“Come on, Tsukki! I promise it’ll be fun. You can leave whenever you want.”

“I just don’t see the reasoning behind going to someone’s birthday party who I haven’t even met. And the party may be fun, but _I_ won’t be any fun.”

Kuroo gawked at him for a moment. “What happened to you? You were doing good for a while. I thought you’d finally come out of your grumpy, reclusive little bubble.”

“I have. I just…” _Tell him tell him tell him tell him tell him_ , his conscience was repeating endlessly, but his mouth couldn’t follow.

“You just what?”

Kei exhaled, aggravated at himself. “I don’t know. Sorry.”

*

The building loomed in front of them like a haunted manor from a horror movie. Kei wouldn’t have been surprised if he heard a wolf howl or saw lightning crackle across the sky. 

It was eerily beautiful, and as they got closer, he saw how particular the architecture was; much different from what he was used to back in Japan. Here, there was the western style U-shaped brickwork house with multiple chimneys and an innumerable amount of windows. It was immense, and Kei wondered how many members of Fukurodani there had to be to need a place this big.

The manor was obviously old. Many parts of the building were in need of repair, though it looked like they had done the best they could to keep it intact. He stopped. They had finally reached the end of the sweeping drive, and were standing in front of a door with a brass, owl-shaped knocker. Yamamoto chuckled at the decor before ringing the bell. 

Immediately, he was answered by a distant shout. The oak door creaked open, revealing a wizard with hair impossibly more ridiculous than Kuroo's. If memory served him right, this was Bokuto, Kuroo's old friend from Hogwarts. He looked ready to bounce off the walls. “Welcome, welcome!” 

“Where’s the birthday boy?” Kuroo asked, shrugging off his coat as they were ushered inside the grand entry hall. A sweeping staircase led up to the second floor, which would have been a lot more regal in appearance had their not been numerous missing and broken steps. 

“He still hasn’t come down,” Bokuto sighed. “I hope he’s not going to sneak out like he did last year…”

“You know, Koutarou, Akaashi really doesn’t seem to like parties very much.”

“What’s that?” Bokuto turned back from forlornly gazing up the stairs.

“...Nothing.”

"You must be Tsukishima!" he said, leaping at Kei and shaking his hand vigerously. "It's super nice to meet you!"

Kei gave him a lopsided smile. "Oh, same to you, most definitely." He retracted his hand and wiped it pointedly on his jeans. Bokuto didn't seem to notice. 

They were guided underneath the balcony where the two staircases intersected and into the former ballroom, now converted into something of a man cave, which was grand in its own right. “Oh, Tsukishima, you haven’t met any of Fukurodani, have you?” Bokuto asked. Before he could reply, he was being ushered by Kuroo and Bokuto to meet the inhabitants of the manor. They seemed more than used to Bokuto’s excitable nature, and greeted Kei with smiles from their seats on the furniture strewn haphazardly about the room. 

It was a good hour before Akaashi made an appearance.

During that time, Kei found himself on a poorly guided tour of Fukurodani manor. This mostly involved Bokuto and Kuroo telling burlesqued tales of their Hogwarts days while Yaku and Kenma corrected them, noses buried deep in a Game Boy and a newspaper respectively. 

The sounds of the party far behind them were growing increasingly louder. Kei couldn’t tell if the shrill noise he was hearing was a pack of hungry Cornish pixies that had been let loose, or somebody singing _Wonderwall_ very badly while dangerously drunk. Either way, he thought it was best they returned to the festivities before someone’s eardrums got blown out.

“If you two were so chummy back in school, how did you end up in separate groups? It seems you’d want to stick together, after all you’ve been through.” Kei was growing somewhat tired of hearing about their shenanigans- it made him feel like the odd man out. And he was fairly certain they’d been through this hallway seven times; Bokuto had stopped narrating his tour after Kuroo began to tell the story of their first Hallowe’en celebration together. 

Kuroo and Bokuto exchanged bewildered glances, caught off-guard by Kei’s question. Yaku hummed quietly to himself, peering up from _The Daily Prophet_ to give them an inquisitive look.

“...We just decided it was best,” were the words Kuroo finally decided on. He cleared his throat. “Um, why don’t we get back to the party? It seems like it’s finally getting interesting, by the sound of it.” 

 

There were no Cornish pixies eating the guests alive, unfortunately; Lev had just indulged in one too many glasses of punch.

The attention of the room was not on Lev’s disastrous chorusing, however. A wizard with sleek, black robes and hair to match stood, calculating, in the center of the room. Everyone was rushing to greet him, and he seemed slightly overwhelmed by the attention.

“Keiji!” Bokuto cried, tearing through the crowd towards him. With the flick of his wand, he pulled a party hat out of thin air and placed it on the wizard’s head. His expression suggested he was unamused.

“Hey, Akaashi,” Kuroo greeted, approaching him with an only slightly less eager glint in his eyes than Bokuto. 

Kei didn’t know what he had expected. He supposed he had presumed, with Bokuto as odd-looking and easily excitable as he was, his right-hand man would be of the same breed. But this intelligent, dark-eyed wizard with a gaze that nearly swept Kei off his feet was the polar opposite of Koutarou Bokuto. 

Akaashi smiled faintly at Kuroo, who immediately pulled him in for a hug. “Happy birthday, kid.” He gave him a bemused look after they had pulled away.

“I’m only a year younger than you, you know.”

“I know,” Kuroo sighed, “But I can’t seem to get the image of a lost little first-year dropping his books in a puddle on the Quidditch field out of my head…”

Akaashi shoved him, trying unsuccessfully to hide an embarrassed smile.

Somehow, Bokuto had managed to zip across the the room and start up some music that soon blared throughout the house with no concern to the delicate ears of his guests. They appeared not to be bothered by the atrocious volume of Bokuto’s sappy mixtape made special for Akaashi’s birthday. Kuroo ran over to help him set up the speakers properly. 

“You’re Tsukishima, right?” Kei turned to find Akaashi studying him. 

“If you must know.”

Akaashi stuck out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I apologize for Bokuto.” Kei was alarmed by how cold his palm was.

“It’s fine. I’m used to such characters, by now. I’m sorry for Bokuto, as well. It seems he had more of a say in who was invited to your birthday party than you did.”

“Don’t apologize. This party is more for him than for me.” Akaashi hummed. “And I assume you’re referring to Kuroo, in reference to ‘such characters’.”

“The bane of my existence.”

“He’s really not all that bad,” Akaashi replied with a small laugh. “You just have to get used to him.” Kei was unsure whether he was referring to Kuroo or Bokuto.

“He’s exhausting, though.”

“He seems to think similarly of you.” Akaashi locked eyes with him. “But he says you’re worth it.”

Kei shivered. He seemed nearly as good at reading people as Kenma. 

Escaping Akaashi's overbearing gaze, Kei found himself on the side of the room furthest from the speakers, where Nobuyuki, Kenma, and a slightly more restrained Lev were abusing the punch bowl. 

“Hey, Kei!” Lev greeted with a wave, proceeding to spill half his drink on the floor. “Ah, whoops.” If at any point in their early interactions Kei had found Lev intimidating because of his height, it was far diminished by his clumsy, kitten-like demeanor. 

Kei returned the greeting with much less enthusiasm, and gravitated toward the alcohol immediately. Large crowds made him want to drink until he became someone more approachable, despite how he became when he indulged in only a drop of the substance.

“It’s pumpkin juice and firewhiskey,” Nobuyuki informed Kei as he reached for a cup. 

“Sounds disgusting,” Kei noted, and quickly retracted his hand. Perhaps it was best that the alcohol was un-consumable.

Kenma looked glum. At Kei’s questioning look, he muttered, “Some guys asked if they could borrow my game. They didn’t give it back.”

“Where are they?” Kei asked, already scanning the crowd. It was a hodgepodge of interesting characters, all of whom seemed to have no clue what dancing was supposed to look like, though Kei couldn’t judge them on the matter without being hypocritical. 

“I’m not sure.”

“I’m surprised you even let them take it.” 

“I didn’t.”

“...Oh.”

“Have you seen Kuroo?”

Having never witnessed Kenma without either a gaming device in his hand or his bed-headed companion, Kei didn’t realize until now how easily the seemingly collected boy could be overtaken by anxiety. Before Kei could volunteer to search for Kuroo, Kenma appeared to spot the pair who had stolen his game, and disappeared amongst the crowd. Lev ambled behind, telling Kenma to wait up.

Nobuyuki took a swig of punch, looking in concern towards the sea of faces. “I’m sure Kenma will be fine,” Kei assured him.

Someone (presumably Bokuto) had dimmed the lights, so Nobuyuki’s face was cast in an eerie glow as he spoke. “I know he will. I just worry sometimes. He’s never been the same…”

“Never been the same…?”

Nobuyuki shook his head, tossing his empty mug onto the bin at the edge of the table. “It’s not my place to tell you.”

“Not your place to tell him what?” Kuroo asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere with Yaku at his side.

“Why Kenma doesn’t go on missions.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Kuroo headed toward the punch bowl, pouring himself a generous amount. He exhaled. “Koutarou’s driving me mad.”

“How so?”

“It’s...complicated.”

Yaku cleared his throat at this remark, but said nothing.

Kei felt as if he were missing something, as always. But it was plausible that everyone else did, too- Yaku and Kuroo seemed to communicate on a telepathic level. The same was to be said about Kuroo and Kenma. Kei wondered if he was ever going to have the same sort of symbiotic relationship with him.

“Are you going to have any, Tsukki?” Kuroo asked, already pouring him some of the plum-colored liquid from the large glass bowl it inhabited. 

“No, thanks.”

Kuroo frowned. “C’mon, live a little.”

“I have a pulse, don’t I?”

“Sometimes, I doubt even that.”

Nobuyuki and Yaku exchanged glances, clearly jaded by Kei and Kuroo’s clumsy and sarcasm-filled conversational skills. 

“Oh, Nobuyuki, I accept your offer.”  


“Huh?” Nobuyuki's ordinarily collected expression become one of confusion. 

“You were going to ask me to dance, weren’t you?” Yaku said with a knowing grin. He took Nobuyuki’s hand. “C’mon, let’s hurry before Bokuto puts on something awful.”

 

Fukurodani’s kitchen had an aura of grandeur. The floor was made up of thick pieces of limestone, and dark wood covered the cabinets and lined the granite countertops. The chairs around the dining table had owls of different species carved into the cross rails, and a pleasant fire was burning in the ancient stove. Kei couldn’t help but envy the luxury they lived in, compared to Nekoma’s shabby warehouse. He wondered spitefully why the two groups differed so much in terms of wealth, when Bokuto had supposedly been inspired to create Fukurodani because of Kuroo.

Shaking away his thoughts, he turned instead to the task at hand. 

“Knight to E7.” 

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Yaku hummed. “Kenma knows all the rookie moves, you know.”

Kenma eyed Kei from his seat across the table, but gave no remark other than, “Bishop to H3.” He was slightly more subdued than earlier, having retrieved his game from the curious wizards who had snatched it.

“You know,” Kuroo called over his shoulder as he stirred ingredients into a bowl on the countertop, “When you all offered to come to the kitchen with me, I thought you would actually be helping, not sitting at the table playing games.”

“Bokuto assigned you to the task of making Akaashi’s birthday cake,” Nobuyuki replied with a shrug. “Sorry, Tetsurou, but it’s not our responsibility.”

“Hey, remember _The Wizard and the Hopping Pot_ when I finish making this amazing cake and don’t let you have any.”

“What’s that got to do with baking?” Lev asked plainly, perking his head up off where it had been resting on the table, watching Kei and Kenma’s game intently.

“The wizard’s son was snobby and didn’t want to help his neighbors, but he learned his lesson.”

Yaku snorted. “Even for you, that’s a reach.”

“I’m just trying to think of an analogy here so you’ll pity me, poor Tetsurou, baking this whole cake by himself.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake, I’ll help you.” Kei pretended to tire of Kuroo’s bickering, but really, he enjoyed assisting him. On the days in which he had cooking duty back at the warehouse, he had learned quite a few recipes other than instant ramen. When he returned home- if he returned home- they would prove him useful. “Finish my game, Nobuyuki.”

“What- I can’t play wizard’s chess!”

“It doesn’t require any magical ability, really. The pieces just do what you tell them, if you’re nice about it.”

Nobuyuki was far too kind to back down from a request, so he obliged. Kei stood and took the apron Kuroo offered him, tying it on over his sweater.

They worked in sync, following the instructions in the cookbook. Bokuto had requested a dark chocolate cake for Akaashi (“Like his eyes,” he had gushed). 

“How come Bokuto isn’t helping us make this?” Kei wondered as he stirred eggs into a bowl.

Kuroo laughed at the thought. “Koutarou and cooking aren’t two things that go together. Besides, he’s busy entertaining his guests.”

“I’m surprised so many people came. You wouldn’t think there’d be so many dark witches and wizards who were quite so fond of parties.”

“Oh, they’re not dark wizards. Most of them, anyway. They’re just ordinary witches and wizards. Even a few muggles. Fukurodani's spell-making business itself isn’t illegal. It’s the shady spells they make behind closed doors that are.” 

“So they’re leading a double life.”

“Precisely.” He examined Kei’s attempt at stirring the eggs. “Here, you’re doing that wrong. Let me help.” He put his hand over Kei’s, and his torso nearly pressed against his back as he worked. “You don’t _stir_ , you _whisk_. That’s how you separate the yolks.”

“Oh, for the love of magic, get a _room_ ,” Yaku groaned. Kei broke away from Kuroo, reddening.

As they waited for the cake to finish baking, Kuroo and Kei rejoined their friends at the table. Kenma and Nobuyuki were still at their game of chess, but Nobuyuki was losing horribly. He only had three pieces left on the board.

“I’m sorry, Kei,” Nobuyuki said upon his return. “I couldn’t save you from the unforgiving hand of Kenma’s white queen.”

Kei examined the board. “I don’t think it’s the queen you should be worried about. Look how close his knight is to your king.”

“Oh, crap, you’re right!”

“He was trying to sneak up on you.”

“And he succeeded,” Yaku noted. “Nobuyuki, take your turn.”

“What move am I supposed to make? I’m cornered! All I have left to do is flee, and if I do, he’ll take my bishop.”

“Sometimes you have to sacrifice others in order to save yourself,” Kei said sagely.

Lev was animated. “Destroy him, Kenma!”

 

“How did it come to this…” Nobuyuki sank low in his chair, facing defeat. “I had such a sure plan…”

Kenma was humble in his success, having wiped out the remainder of Nobuyuki’s army. 

“I’ll play Kenma next,” Lev volunteered with a devilish grin.

“You’ll be crushed,” Kei told him. “Resistance is futile.”

“Yeah,” Kuroo agreed, watching as Kenma rolled his eyes at them and pulled out his Game Boy. “I mean, just look at him. What a monster.”

“This is nothing compared to Kenma’s Hogwarts days, though,” Yaku said. “Even the headmaster couldn’t beat him.”

“The headmaster was a bad player anyway,” Kenma murmured. “He relied too much on the queen. All the pieces are necessary to win.”

“Was Kenma some sort of chess champion back at Hogwarts?” Lev asked. Kei had forgotten that he, too, wasn’t there during their school days; Lev had gone to Durmstrang, as a clumsy but promising half-blood with lots of potential. How he had ended up here, Kei still didn’t know.

“Oh, definitely,” Kuroo replied. “Kenma wasn’t a star student, but he made up for his lack of magical ability with his amazing gaming skills. We used to have chess championships in the commons every year, and he would always win.”

Kei considered this. “...What do you mean, ‘lack of magical ability’?”

From the silence that ensued, Kei knew he had crossed the line yet again. There were all of these invisible boundaries in Nekoma’s past that he didn’t know of, and he always ended up walking right into them. 

“Kenma is a squib,” Kuroo said after a moment.

“What- what are you talking about? Then how…” Now that he came to think about it, Kei hadn’t seen Kenma practice any magic whatsoever. He didn’t even think he had a wand. Kenma was staring at him with contemplative eyes, as if trying to read his thoughts. “Then what were you doing at a wizarding school?”

Kenma turned to Kuroo to supply an answer, but he looked like he wasn’t sure where to begin. 

“Tetsurou and Kenma grew up on the streets together,” Yaku supplied. “When Tetsurou got his letter, he couldn’t exactly leave his best friend behind.”

“I imagine the staff weren’t very happy about that.”

“No…” Kenma replied. “But the castle accepted me as one of its own, so they couldn’t do anything.”

“He stayed with me in the boy’s dormitory. We were all in Gryffindor- Koutarou, Morisuke, Kenma, and I. Yamamoto and Inuoka were, too, though I wasn’t very close to them then. Keiji was a Ravenclaw. He played Quidditch on their team, but he always practiced with us. Their captain didn’t like that very much, but he was too good of a Keeper for her to put up much of a fuss.”

“It sounds like you had quite the time there,” Kei said.

‘Yeah,” Kuroo answered, though he looked anything but happy. “Yeah, I guess we did.”

Kei almost missed the abrupt sound of the old-fashioned kitchen timer going off. He leapt out of his seat to retrieve the cake from the oven, putting on the mitts that Kuroo had left on the countertop earlier. Kuroo came to help him ice the cake. His movements were practiced, and he spread the icing evenly. Compared to Kuroo, Kei’s strokes were sloppy and misguided.

“You’ve got a little on your face,” Kuroo told him, pointing. 

“Huh?” Kei reached up, but Kuroo was a step ahead of him, wiping the icing off his jaw with the pad of his thumb and tasting it. Kei glared at him, brushing Kuroo’s hand off from where it was cupping his cheek. “What the hell was that for?”

“Just helping you out.” He turned away from Kei, reaching into an upper cabinet. “As soon as we put the candles on, I’d say this cake is ready to go."

 

“...Happy birthday dear Keiji, happy birthday to you-”

“And many more!” Bokuto exclaimed, glad the song was finally over. “Blow out the candles, Keiji!”

“Patience, Koutarou,” he replied, taking his time. 

“You’re just doing this to frustrate me,” Bokuto huffed. 

“Thank you for making the cake, Tetsurou,” Akaashi said gratefully as he began cutting out pieces to serve to the guests. “It’s beautiful.”

“Hey, it wasn’t all me.” Kuroo nudged Kei with his elbow. “This one helped, too.”

“It was mostly Tetsurou,” Kei added quickly. Akaashi smiled. 

“Don’t be modest, Tsukishima. I’m sure you helped him more than you know.”

 

Kei returned to the kitchen to find Yaku had the same idea he did.  


“Needed a quiet place to think?”

Kei nodded. “You know I’m not a fan of parties.” He took a seat next to Yaku at the table.

“You didn’t even get a piece of your well-deserved cake?”

“I’m not very hungry.”

Yaku eyed him. “What’s troubling you?”

He folded his hands on the tabletop and pondered over how to put the mess of confusion in his head into words. “I feel like everyone knows something about me that I don’t.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, in everything involving Tetsurou, it seems like I’m always a step behind. And I know you guys are joking or teasing me half the time, but it’s still…”

“Disconcerting?”

“Yes.”

“I think you’re just a little dense.” 

“...What?” 

He sighed impatiently. “Kei, how do you feel about Tetsurou?”

“He’s my friend.”

“You have a pretty interesting friendship.”

Kei frowned. “Are you criticising our relationship now?”

“I’m just saying. I made the mistake of falling for Tetsurou Kuroo when I was still a teenager, and we fell out of love very roughly.” He paused, expecting commentary from Kei, but he was waiting for Yaku to continue. 

“We had just graduated when we got together. I was his right-hand mand in Nekoma. I still am, but it’s not the same. I would have followed him anywhere. When Kenma nearly got killed on a mission one day because he couldn’t defend himself with magic, Tetsurou started becoming really overprotective. He tried to stop me from going on missions myself, because he was afraid of me getting hurt. How do you imagine that made me feel? I worried about him, too, but I would never dream of trying to force him out of Nekoma for my own selfishness. A job like ours, it comes with those kinds of risks.

“Long story short, he told me he couldn’t be worrying that the person he loved might die at any moment - as if I couldn’t take care of myself. So we broke up, for the best of Nekoma. He’s changed since then, but…” Yaku shook his head. “I could never go back to being what we were.” 

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because I think you need to know. It seems like you’re the next in line, after all.”

Kei laughed bitterly. “You’re kidding me. So that’s what all this is about? You lost your chance with Kuroo, so now you want me to take over?”

“Jeez, Kei, I thought you’d changed. Are you really that naive?”

“Excuse me?” 

“I’m telling you this because you’re in love with him.”

*

Kei returned to the ballroom with shaking hands and a pounding heart, rigid with anxiety. What was Yaku saying? He surely couldn’t believe such a thing. It was ridiculous. Kuroo was a foolish criminal with an abrasive attitude, an irritating smile, wandering eyes, warm hands, and... _Shit._

“Hey hey hey!” Bokuto seemed to come out of nowhere from amidst the scattered crowd, throwing an arm around Kei. “Where’ve you been?” We were looking for you.”

“‘We’?” He turned his head to find Akaashi and Kuroo trailing behind.

“We were going to play some Quidditch.”

"It’s ten o’clock at night.”

“Don’t be a party pooper, Tsukki. We’ll just have to turn the back light on. You _can_ play Quidditch, right?”

“It’s been a while.”

Kei had played during his first few years at Mahoutokoro, but he’d never been one for team sports- they were aggravating- so he quit. His team was disappointed they’d lost his height, but not his attitude.

Fukurodani manor had an open courtyard that was encompassed by three of the buildings’ walls. On the fourth side, it led out to a desolate field that descended into a wooded valley. The air was bitter cold, and it stung Kei’s cheeks as they stepped outdoors. 

“How are we supposed to play with four people?” he asked.

“We’ll just have one Keeper and one Chaser on each team.” Akaashi unlocked small toolshed overgrown with thick, frozen vines, pulling out four brooms and a ball. Kei took his broom hesitantly.

“You’re on my team, right, Keiji?” Bokuto asked.

“Sorry, Koutarou, but I think I’ll join Tsukishima’s team this time around. I’m interested to see how he plays.”

There were miniature makeshift goalposts on either end of the field; apparently, Fukurodani played this game often in their free time. 

“I guess it’s you and me then, huh?” Kuroo said, patting Bokuto on the shoulder.

He still looked slightly disappointed at the prospect of Akaashi being on someone else’s team, but he perked up a bit. “Yeah! Just like old times. Except we won’t be Beaters.”

“I’ll play Keeper,” Akaashi offered Kei. “It’s the only position I’m used to."

Kei doubted he would even be able to see the ball in the heavy darkness that cloaked the field. He nodded regardless, and agreed to be the Chaser.

Playing against Kuroo was exhilarating. Unlike Kei, he hadn’t quit a decade ago and never so much as looked at his broom since. It was clear from the frustrating speed at which he zipped across the field that he had kept up the practice. By the time half an hour had passed, the score was 30-70, and Kei was beaded with sweat. The only reason Kuroo hadn’t monumentally surpassed him was because Akaashi was such an excellent Keeper. Bokuto was skilled, as well, despite the position being out of his comfort zone. Kei was lucky to have scored even a few points against him. 

“Ready to accept defeat?” Kuroo asked smugly. 

“Never,” Kei huffed.

Their fun was quickly spoiled, though. The door burst open, and Nobuyuki ran across the courtyard to the field where they were having their match. 

“Come quick- someone coming-” he gasped between breaths, hands on his knees. The four of them flew to the ground, dropping their brooms and running to Nobuyuki. 

“What?!”

“There are people coming up the drive,” he said. “They’re from the Ministry.”

“Stay calm!” Akaashi insisted sternly as they rushed back indoors. “There’s no cause for alarm. We just need to get Nekoma out of here. We’ve done nothing wrong- we’re simply throwing a party.”

Kuroo raced into the ballroom, Kei barely managing to catch up. He tried to dash through the crowd, but Nobuyuki caught his arm. “Don’t be an idiot, Tetsurou. You’ll just cause a ruckus. I’ll find Yaku and get everyone out _calmly_.” He began flitting through the crowd, trying to find all of his friends without causing a disturbance to the oblivious guests. 

Bokuto was shaking, and Kei wasn’t sure if he was afraid for Kuroo or himself. 

“Go, Tetsurou!” Akaashi whispered urgently. “You and Kei need to apparate out of here. If the Ministry workers so much as catch a glimpse of you-”

“I can’t leave without the rest of them!”

But amidst the buzz of constant conversation and the blaring music, the door across the room creaked open. 

“ _Hurry!_ ”

In the second before his body was whisked away by the pull of his apparition spell, Kei saw two figures standing in the doorway. Aurors. A small blonde witch and a lanky, freckled wizard. Yamaguchi’s eyes widened, and he called Kei’s name before he disappeared. 

“ _Tsukki!_ ”


	9. no rest for the wicked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” - Pablo Neruda

In the thick, rolling hills of Japan’s rural regions, many pureblood wizarding families were settled. A humble but relatively well-regarded family resided between the crests of two hills, as it had for generations. Its house was of old stone and wood, and inside it lived a mother, a father, and their two sons. 

The start of term was nearing once again, and the two boys (one in his first year, the other in his seventh) scurried about the house in preparation to leave for Mahoukotaro. 

“Hey, Kei!” Kei looked up, wide-eyed, from his open trunk. “Didn’t you say you wanted to try out for Quidditch?”

“Yeah. But,” he glanced at the floor in slight melancholy, “I probably won’t get in. They don’t usually accept first-years.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! If you have the skill, you’ll get in. Besides,” Akiteru grinned, pulling something bulky from behind him, “With this broomstick, you can outrace anyone.”

Kei lit up at the sight of the Nimbus 2000 in front of him. “But what about-”

“Don’t worry,” Akiteru reassured him, ruffling his brother’s hair as he handed Kei the broom, “I’ll be too busy this year to play, anyway. I have to focus on my studies if I want to become an auror!”

Kei embraced Akiteru, who laughed lightly. Abruptly, the air began to chill, and goosebumps ran down Kei’s arms. Akiteru whispered, “ _Too bad you threw your broomstick away during fourth year after quitting your team in the middle of a match. You never failed to disappoint me, brother. Just like you disappointed all your peers when you betrayed the Ministry. Just like you disappointed our parents when you failed to save me_.”

 

Kei woke with a start and nearly fell off his mattress. The warehouse had become so cold that pairs took turns sharing Kuroo’s bedroom, the only place with suitable insulation. Kei had to sleep on one of the curtained-off beds, and he missed the warmth of another body sleeping next to him. He shivered as he resettled himself beneath the inadequate covers.

Morning was yet on the horizon, and not another soul stirred. Kei feigned sleep for a while, but found that after the cold dawn air had crept up against his skin, any attempt to return to dreamland was futile.

He turned over on his mattress and reached for the book he had been reading the night before. Instead of its welcoming pages, his hand brushed across the smooth concrete of the floor.

_Could Kuroo have…?_

Ever since Fukurodani, there had been a strange distance between them. Not a tension, but a static barrier, as if each time one of them spoke, it was in a language the other didn’t understand. Kei barely saw Kuroo; he spent most of his time flitting back and forth between the manor and the warehouse, never daring to use a method of transportation aside from apparition. Bokuto was in no trouble, but the Ministry was keeping a close eye on him since the night of his party, and Kuroo checked in frequently. 

Sometimes Kuroo returned with food, which was desperately needed. Everyone was far too fearful of being recognized to go out on real missions, and they hadn’t brought back so much as half a knut in days. But the challenging magic of apparition left Kuroo drained, and Kei nearly always found him sleeping.

Today was no exception. Kei carefully lifted the heavy curtain separating his bed from Kuroo’s, revealing the wizard sound asleep with the aforementioned book propped open against his chest. Kei hid a smile, and let the curtain fall back into place.

*

Nobuyuki helped out to the best of his ability, but he couldn’t afford for his friends to take more food from the grocery than they had the means to pay for. He had been promoted to assistant manager there, and the responsibility took its toll. He was becoming further and further distanced from Nekoma.

At the first sound of movement, Kei left his secluded bed and joined Yamamoto on kitchen duty.

“It’s not your turn,” Yamamoto said, brow wrinkled, when Kei followed in behind him. “You know that, right?” 

“I know. I want to help.”

“Well, there’s not much to do. Unless you want to use some of your pureblood riches to pay for our meals.”

Kei glared. _Is this what I get for trying to be generous?_ “You know as well as I do that going into Gringotts is as good as turning myself in. If I could, I would.”

Yamamoto grunted as he rifled through the cupboards. “I don’t even know if we have enough left to make breakfast. Jeez.” He leaned back against the counter, arms crossed, to stare at his toes. “If this keeps up, we’ll have to break into the savings.”

“Savings?” Kei always assumed they spent every penny they made on food and supplies. How on earth did Nekoma have savings?

Yamamoto raised his head. “Kuroo never mentioned it? For all we make, we put a little away for people’s personal needs and stuff. I’m pretty sure all of us want something- Nekoma is my family, but I don’t plan to spend the rest of my life in this warehouse. As long as I’m here, I’d at least like to have something nice to make it a little more bearable. Nobuyuki’s the only one to really make it, though. I don’t have enough in my jar to buy a loaf of bread, much less a motorcycle.”

“That’s what you’re saving up for?” Kei knelt next to the lower cabinets, peering inside. There was nothing of use, unless he wanted to try a taste of the strange growth hiding behind the pots and pans.

“Hell yeah! I know it’s made for muggles, but haven’t you ever wanted something flashy?”

He didn’t think it a very ambitious goal, but he said nothing of the matter. “What about the others?” 

“Well, Kenma always wants more games, which aren’t too expensive, so he’s been able to buy a few over the years. Lev changes his mind every day about what he wants, but it doesn’t really matter since he hasn’t got a sickle to his name quite yet. And Yaku...he’s saving up for his transition.”

Kei was sifting through the pantry with tiresome concentration. He finally produced a half-eaten box of stale cereal, and set it on the counter beside the grits they had been eating for the past week, which he was beginning to grow sick at the sight of.

“He’s saving up for what?”

Yamamoto huffed impatiently. “Why don’t I just show you?

Kei was led to a closet beside the bathroom, which he had taken note of before but never paid much attention to. The bolt was stuck in the doorframe, and it took a hard tug for Yamamoto to pull it open, the hinges creaking wildly enough to wake the neighborhood. 

Inside was the usual array of old potion bottles; it was what sat on the highest shelf that held Kei’s interest. Nearly as many Mason jars as there were members of Nekoma stood at various stages of being filled. In the center was the oldest jar. _NOBUYUKI_ had been crossed out and _LEV_ rewritten underneath in Sharpie. It contained no more than a few knuts.

Yaku's was in muggle money, and reaching the brim- closer than any of the others to the top, but, Kei noticed with dismay as he read the number on the label, still so far from reaching its goal. Yaku would need a dozen jars for the amount he desired.

"Hey," Kei noticed, "How come Kuroo doesn't have one?" 

Yamamoto looked up. "Oh- I never really thought about it."

"It's because I don't need one." Kuroo's bed head looked more preposterous than ever, if that was possible. Dark circles underlined his eyes, and his nose was red and sore-looking. He sniffed. "Until every member of Nekoma has a paying job and a home of their own, I have to be content with what I've got." 

"Jeez," Yamamoto laughed. "You've got to stop being such a good guy, y'know? You're making the rest of us look bad."

Kuroo smiled. "I've got plenty to make up for."

 

'Team meeting!' echoed throughout the warehouse a few hours after breakfast, everyone's stomachs running on empty from the less than fulfilling meal. At noon, Inuoka, Fukunaga, and Kenma stopped re-organizing potions, Yamamoto and Shibayama finished washing dishes, and Kuroo and Yaku paused from training Lev in his animagus exercises. Kei returned from a long overdue shower, though with no hot water, it wasn't as satisfying as he had hoped. Nobuyuki hadn't visited for several days on account of both his work and the weather.

The table was emptier than Kei remembered, and he tapped his fingers against the worn wood as he waited for everyone to get settled. When the shuffling and scraping of chairs died down, Kuroo began, "We have a job offer." Heads lifted. "It's outside of London, so it's not as risky, and the location is in a muggle area, so there won't be many aurors nearby in case we're recognized." He grimaced. "Which is good, because we're out of polyjuice potions." Collective murmuring. "But this will give us an opportunity to brew more." He was wringing his hands. 

Inuoka asked, "What's the catch?"

"I was getting to that." He sucked in a breath. "Our buyer is Suguru Daishou."

A flurry of voices filled the room abruptly, Yaku’s ringing the loudest. “Kuroo, I know we’re desperate, but after what he did to us last time-”

“It’s our only option. And if he decides to play dirty again, we’ll just fight fire with fire.”

“Even if-”

“We’ve lost a dozen buyers because of the incident at Fukurodani. My face was plastered all over the news again. Before we were desperate, now we’re on our last strings. If we don’t get a deal soon…” He didn’t have to say it. These men knew things about hunger that Kei would never understand. But he had to ask.

“Who is Suguru Daishou?”

Kuroo looked at Kei like he expected him to know already. “He’s the owner of an apothecary in Reading called _Nohebi’s Potion and Supply_. We’ve had business with them in the past, and it didn’t exactly end well.”

Yaku was rubbing his temples. “They’re supposed to be your typical Ministry-approved potions store- and they’re kissasses to the Ministry, let me tell you- but they make most of their money through backroom deals with dark wizards. And I mean real dark wizards. The kind who harass muggle-borns for sport. The kind who were Death Eaters.” Kei shivered at the name. “Since it’s too risky for them to make lethal potions on their own, being suppliers to the Ministry and all, they like to buy off of people like us. After we sold to them, they…”

“They spread a rumor in the black market that our potions were flukes!” Lev finished. “They sold what we had given them at five times the price and claimed they made it themselves!”

“And wouldn’t drop the rumor until we agreed to give them our best recipes to sell out for thousands of galleons. You can see why we don’t like them.” Kuroo shook his head. “But we don’t have much of a choice.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Yaku replied with an air of finality. “Boys, let’s get to work.”

 

Daishou had ordered a brew of _Amortentia_ , three of _Essence of Insanity_ , and five of _Garroting Gas_ (these had to be put in special containers, as they were meant to explode upon impact). Though they were scraping the bottom of their supply barrels, everyone was hard at work; the potions were to be ready by tomorrow morning, delivered discreetly to the storage area in the basement of Nohebi’s. Kuroo expected it to be a quick mission, but even Kenma was on edge.

“Tsukki, could you pass me that jar of ashwinder eggs next to you?” 

“Oh- sure.” Five of them were spread out on the floor of Kuroo’s room near the supply shelves, brewing meticulously. Kuroo was the only one experienced in making amortentia, and sweat beaded his forehead as he stirred carefully, knowing one drop of the wrong ingredient could gravely change the whole thing. Their non-wizard companions filled flasks with the finished potions and set them on racks to cool. 

“Nobuyuki should be here,” Yaku murmured as he crumbled dried sneezewort into his cauldron.

“Isn’t he busy with work?” Lev asked, nearly knocking over a stack of glass vials as he tried to step between his companions. He winced. 

“He’s off today.” 

“I’m sure he’s still busy,” Kuroo said. “He’s got a life, you know. That’s more than can be said about the rest of us.” Dry laughter at that. Yaku didn’t crack a smile.

“He’s forgetting his family.” The room quieted. It was warm inside for once, with the cauldron fires going, but Kei felt a chill as Yaku continued, “Is that what’s going to happen to all of us? After we finally make something of ourselves, stop living in an abandoned building and going against all moral convictions just to survive, are we going to forget each other and pretend some of the most meaningful moments of our lives never happened just because we were struggling? Does looking at us remind him of who he used to be? A disgraceful homeless kid who was begging for bread on the streets before Kuroo took him under his wing? We _made_ him. He would be _nowhere_ without us. I can’t remember how many meals we skipped just so we could put another penny in his jar. And he doesn’t even take the time to stop by.”

Kei didn’t know what to say to that. Nobuyuki’s kindness and patience was second only to Yaku’s, and he wouldn’t have felt at home in Nekoma without his help. To imagine that his visits would start becoming less and less frequent, that he only helped them out of obligation, made Kei remember his own past, and his own dreams of the future. If he could ever return to the Ministry, would he still stop by the warehouse? Would he still lend a helping hand to Kuroo and the others, when he could spare one? He liked to imagine so, despite the risks. Now, picturing it, he wasn’t so sure.

Kuroo’s voice broke the silence. “No,” he said. “Never.” 

But even to Kei, he sounded uncertain.

 

The morning air was still and quiet in Reading. It was a predominantly muggle city, with a few wizards living in the townhouses that lined the narrow streets like rows of crooked teeth. It was warmer than London, but not by much. 

The only car Nekoma had access to was Nobuyuki’s. Without it, the non-magical members had no means of transportation save the trains, which couldn’t be relied upon to tote dangerous potions and a handful of fugitives. And with the risk involved, a small crew worked best. So it was just Kuroo, Yaku, Kei, and Yamamoto on this mission. 

Yamamoto carried one carton of flasks under his arm, and Yaku was toting the other. Kuroo’s hands were in his pockets, a casual stance to an onlooker if they didn’t know it was to ensure he could pull out his wand at any given second.

“Weren’t they supposed to meet us?” Kei shifted from foot to foot. The back door was in an alley, secluded enough to hide in but exposed enough to worry someone was watching them. 

“It’s unlocked,” Yamamoto discovered after trying the door. “Should we just go in?”

Everyone looked to Kuroo, who shrugged uneasily. “I don’t see why not.” He released a breath. “Remember, there’s an apparition block around the entire area surrounding Nohebi’s, so this is our only exit if something goes wrong.”

Kei followed after Kuroo and Yamamoto towards the open doorway. If they were in animagi form, Kei imagined, their backs would be arched, hair standing on end. Before he could step inside, he felt a tug on his arm.

"Hey. Tsukishima." Yaku was staring down at his toes, jaw clenched. The sleeves of his coat were rolled up tight, a dirty khaki-colored thing several sizes too big for him. "Um, what I said the other day, about you and Tetsurou." He met Kei's eyes as he said the name. "I'm sorry. I was drunk, and it was inappropriate."

Kei stiffened. "We don't need to talk about it."

"I'm just trying to say- I get ahead of myself sometimes. If you don't want to date Tetsu, it's...fine. For the best, even."

"What do you mean?"

Yaku looked away again. "I mean, things are kind of hectic right now. We don't know what the future holds for us, any of us. Even you. It's probably a good idea if we don't make it any more complicated."

"Yeah," Kei replied, suddenly more conflicted than ever. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

“Hurry up!” Kuroo called. After Yaku, Kei shut the door firmly behind them. 

 

The basement was larger than Kei had imagined. It was about the length of the warehouse, albeit with a significantly lower ceiling. Rows and rows of cold metal shelves lined the length of the space. On the far side, crates of various sizes were packed just as neatly. Kei heard a sharp rattling from somewhere in the distance, and it grew louder as they started towards the heavy door marked CONFERENCE ROOM in blocky lettering. 

“Shouldn’t they be here already?” Yamamoto asked uneasily.

“Relax,” Kuroo replied. “Daishou wants to intimidate you with his creepy dungeon. Don’t let him.” 

“I’m not intimidated,” he murmured.

A musty odor emanated from the crates, like mold left to fester somewhere warm and damp. The rattling paused, replaced briefly by a low growl. Kei stepped back. “What was that?”

“Baby dragons,” Yaku replied with clear distaste. “Not only is Daishou a liar and a thief, he’s a smuggler, too.”

Kei thought about how inhumane it was, to keep such a sacred creature locked up in the dark like that. He gave one last look at the crate before following his companions.

The conference room was not much more than a small storage space. A smug-faced wizard sat behind the table in the center with his arms crossed, as if he were perched atop a gold-plated throne instead of a creaky plastic folding chair. He reeked of overconfidence. Yamamoto and Yaku set their cartons of potions on the table quickly and wordlessly, as if afraid he would lash out at them if they turned their backs for too long. Yamamoto fixed him with a steady glare.

“Daishou.” Kuroo eyed him pensively.

“Kuroo. It’s been quite a while.” He smiled. “I was almost afraid you wouldn’t show up.”

“I brought what you asked for. I’ll take my payment and leave, and this can be over with.” Kei could tell from how tensely Kuroo held his shoulders that his bold words were just that; words.

“You know as well as I do that there’s an order here. I’ll have to examine those-” he motioned to the cartons- “Before I make any final decisions. And I’d like to consult you and your devotees. How about we start with…” he waved his finger around, pausing before landing on Kei. “You.”

Kuroo glowered. “What do you want with him?”

“That’s between us. The rest of you can wait outside.”

“Hold on a minute-”

Yaku pulled Kuroo back. “C’mon, Tetsurou. Let’s just do what he says.”

Kuroo made a motion across his neck directed at Daishou before following the others outside.

“Sit.” Daishou motioned to the chair adjacent to him just as the door clicked shut. Kei sat.

He examined him for what felt like a long time.

“Do you know why you’re here?” 

Kei had dealt with people like this before- smug pricks who thought they were above it all. He remained silent.

Daishou reached dramatically into the pocket of his robes, unfurling a piece of paper.

“Kei Tsukishima. Auror. Last seen inside London Ministry of Magic. Wherabouts unknown. Likley in the hold of wizard criminal Tetsurou Kuroo. Wanted alive for the reward of ten thousand galleons.” He looked back at Kei. “I could turn you in and collect your reward. I could tell the Ministry I found you in my supply room with Kuroo attempting dual robbery, or that I rescued you from the clutches of his evil band of misfits. Frankly, they’ll believe any story I tell them.” Daishou paused, smiling, and it took every ounce of self-control Kei had left not to deck him. “What story do you want them to hear?”

“I think I should be asking you what story you’re going to tell them, since my preference obviously has no merit in this conversation.”

Daishou seemed amused by that. “I guess you’re right. I’ll stop beating around the bush, then.

“Kuroo and the rest of Nekoma are wanted dead or alive. The reward is enough to allow me to retire today and live the rest of my life in the lap of luxury. Of course, I would sacrifice this early retirement plan to give you a portion of the prize, if you were interested in doing me a small favor.”

“What favor?”

“You have to help me turn them in.”

“Can’t you do that yourself?” Kei knew Daishou couldn’t have the Ministry storming his basement; he would be in as much trouble as Kuroo was, with what he was keeping down here. But there were other ways to turn someone in, certainly, and he had no doubt that Daishou was well aware of them.

“The fact that Kuroo had enough faith in me to come here is a miracle in itself. He wouldn’t trust me as far as he could throw me. And I don’t want to kill him if I don’t have to- my hands are dirty enough as is. I’m not sure where you stand with Nekoma, but you don’t seem like much of a captive to me. Am I wrong that you could convince Kuroo to trust you?” 

“If I could do that, why would I need your help turning him in?”

“He would never have to know it was you. I’d offer protection against any allegations.”

Kei faltered at that.

“I’ll think about it.” He hated that smirk on Daishou’s face. “Can I go now?”

“One more thing.” Kei wasn’t usually intimidated by wand-pointing lunatics, but there was something about the glint in Daishou’s eyes that led him to believe the wizard wouldn’t hesitate to hex him. “If you utter a word of this to Kuroo, I’ll be inclined to forget the ‘alive’ specification on your wanted poster.”

 

His friends were not waiting alone, Kei found, when he finally stepped out of Daishou’s suffocating interrogation room. 

Five men stood guard around them, arms crossed. Kuroo, Yaku and Yamamoto sat slouched against the wall, faces guarded and eyes searching Kei’s for some sign of what he and Daishou had spoken about. He had none to give. He joined Kuroo in the corner beside one of the metal shelves. 

“Are you-”

Kuroo shook his head, motioning to the wizards that surrounded them. _Not now._

Just as soon as it had shut, the heavy door groaned back open. Daishou stuck his head out, glanced around, and secured his gaze on Yaku. “I’ll see you next.” 

And so the cycle continued, until it was Kuroo’s turn. 

“He’s just doing this to get under my skin,” he muttered as he stretched his stiff legs and sauntered through the doorway. Perhaps Kuroo wasn’t too far off. Daishou’s actions all held multiple intentions. Covering his tracks so his meeting with Kei didn’t read as an isolated incident was undoubtedly one of them. 

Kei bit his lip as he watched the door close behind Kuroo. Because he had started thinking that maybe Daishou had the right idea. It was tempting, the premise of returning to his life as it was before Kuroo entered it, without facing the consequences of everything he had done. But he had wallowed in his own guilt before, and that was an experience he didn’t want to relive. 

Besides, what did he have to go back to? His only friend at the Ministry was Yamaguchi, and Kei couldn’t so much as meet his eyes without feeling crippling remorse for what he had put him through. Even if he settled down in Tokyo again, he would have to confront the ghost of his brother. After all these years, the thought of moving on still haunted him. 

Nekoma was a brilliant group of wizards and muggles alike. So brilliant they had managed to break someone out of a high-security Ministry prison. The work Yaku had put into weakening their magical barriers days before Kuroo’s escape was phenomenal. Not to mention half of them were animagi. Daishou seemed to believe otherwise, but Kei doubted he could fool them for a second.

What was he to them, anyway? A prisoner? A prospective sleeper agent? A comrade of equal standing? A friend? No. He was _family_. And family didn’t turn their backs on one another.

*

“You’re good to go,” Daishou said as he stood in front of them, a bag of galleons outstretched in Kuroo’s direction. Kuroo pocketed the money.

“Good to go?” 

“I spoke with all of you, examined your potions, and you’re good to go. It’s been a pleasure working with you.”

Kei could almost taste the tension in Kuroo’s words when he shook Daishou’s hand and replied with a forced smile, “Same to you.” 

 

It was sleeting when they left the basement. The moment he stepped outside, Yamamoto exploded. “That guy! Who the hell does he think he is!” 

“Pipe down,” Yaku replied, shifting his gaze down the alleyway. “We’re not alone.”

Kei followed Yaku’s eyes to a figure standing several yards away. He was wearing muggle clothing, and Kei would have been fooled by the diguise if hadn’t already recognized him by his height and shock of bright red hair.

“That’s an auror,” Kei hissed.

“ _What?!_ ”

As if on cue, a second man with dark hair and a taller stature appeared on the opposite end of the alley, blocking their exit. Kuroo turned his head back and forth with growing panic. As Kageyama drew his wand, Kuroo grabbed Kei’s hand and uttered one word: _scatter_.

Kei didn’t have to be told twice. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and...nothing happened. He was flung to the ground by Kuroo just before a bolt of bright light shot out of Kageyama’s wand. 

“What the hell?”

“There must be a transfiguration block, too!” Kuroo shouted. “Let’s run for the shrimp-” he was cut off by another hex, which barely missed Yamamoto. “ _Go!_ ”

The four of them surged forward, running in a zigzag pattern as spells were cast from either end of the alley. Kei could tell only by the sound of feet pounding against cobblestone that Yamamoto and Yaku were still somewhere behind them. Sleet rushed from the sky, blurring Kei’s eyes. He wiped his face with his free hand before digging inside his pocket for his wand.

As they neared Hinata, he stretched his limbs out, as if he could somehow create a blockade using only his body. Kei and Kuroo both held their wands in front of them, and Kuroo was shouting curses left and right, all of which Hinata countered. Kei’s wand was shaking in his sweaty palm. He had yet to utter a single incantation. 

Kageyama had followed them at full speed down the alley, and Kuroo finally managed to blast Hinata’s wand out of his hand and into the street while the auror was busy yelling at his partner to improve his aim. 

“THREE!” It was Yamamoto’s voice. Kei heard the sound of shattering glass behind him, and immediately the alley was filled with a thick, noxious gas. 

Kuroo tugged Kei urgently. “Garrotting gas,” he murmured through his teeth as they raced past their now-choking captor to the street, and Kei knew to hold his breath. Even so, he felt the weightless substance throbbing at his neck, and he wretched before Kuroo pulled him free of the stuff.

“I told you to wait until _my_ count!” he heard Yaku shout close behind them. “Not _yours_!” 

“It worked, didn’t it?” Was Yamamoto’s winded reply. 

They continued running, bumping shoulders with alarmed muggle passerby until the alleyway was far out of sight.

Kuroo paused and turned to face Yaku and Yamamoto, who slowed to a jog before stopping completely, chests heaving. He gave them a curt nod, squeezed Kei’s hand, and they were back at the warehouse in the blink of an eye.

 

Lev leapt up from his seat playing bridge at the table the moment they arrived. 

“How did it go?” He asked anxiously. The others followed close behind him, eyes on the four’s soaked clothes and tired faces. 

Yamamoto began to animatedly recount their mission, Yaku cutting in every so often. When he reached the part about how he had “taken down” the aurors, he pulled a second rounded vial of garroting gas from his pocket. 

“I knew Daishou was gonna play dirty, so I brewed a couple extra bottles of this stuff in case we needed to make a quick escape. So when the second guy came up behind us, I-” he mimicked tossing the potion- “WHAM! Threw it right at his feet, and ran the hell out of there. They both got it pretty good. I can’t wait for them to go crying back to the Ministry to tell them how we kicked their asses.”

There was a round of hollering and applause from some of the more boisterous boys. Yamamoto was glowing in their praise.

“You forgot about how I told you to wait until we were out of the alley to throw it so we wouldn’t get hit ourselves,” Yaku added, elbowing him.

“Jeez, Morisuke, can’t ya let me be the heroic mastermind for once?”

Kuroo took the opportunity to snatch the remaining vial from Yamamoto. “I’ll take that,” he said. “I think we’ve had enough adventure for one day.”

Kei followed Kuroo into the back room to watch him place the container on a high shelf. 

“I didn’t think we’d make it out of there alive,” Kei remarked lightly.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “It’s a miracle.” Kuroo looked at him then, and Kei wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline coursing through him from being chased by his ex-coworkers, or all the uncertainty he had felt that day, or the fact that he had been waiting for this since who knows how long ago, but he kissed him. And Kuroo kissed him back.

Kei pulled away only because he desperately needed to breathe. 

“I thought you’d never do that.” Kuroo laughed, bewildered, cupping Kei’s face in his hands and pressing kisses to his forehead, his cheeks, his chin, his nose, his lips. “Tsukki, Tsukki, Tsukki, Tsukki, Tsukki…”

Kei held him by the shoulders and kissed him again, long and slow. He snorted as they fumbled and fell onto Kuroo’s mattress, as Kuroo tugged off his coat and pressed his lips adoringly against every bare inch of Kei’s skin. 

“I love you,” Kuroo whispered into the curve of his neck. 

Kei faltered. 

“No, you don’t.”

“What?” Kuroo rolled off of him. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I do!” 

Kei clamped his palms against his own forehead. “I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just…” he looked over at Kuroo, who seemed to be trying to swallow down an ocean of hurt. “We barely know each other.” 

“That’s not true!”

“Okay, we know each other, but it’s not how normal people know each other. I know what the most traumatic experience of your life is, and you know mine, but I don’t know your favorite ice cream flavor.”

“Why does that matter?” Kuroo was incredulous. 

“It matters! I can’t- I don’t-” he let out an agitated huff. “I don’t want to jump into this blindfolded. There’s so much about you I’m still unsure of.” _Like if you trust me._

“It’s cookie dough.”

“What?”

“My favorite ice cream flavor. Now you know.” 

“That’s not my point.”

“And I already know yours is strawberry.”

He flushed. “Again, not my point.”

“Okay.” Kuroo propped himself up on his elbow to face Kei. “So let’s get to know each other better. How about twenty questions?”

“Are you serious?”

“Don’t you know what twenty questions is?” 

“Of course I do. I was just under the impression that it was a game for bored teenagers and B-list young adult romance novels.”

Kuroo scoffed. “I was kidding, but now that you say that, I really do want to play it.” He grinned. “You go first.” 

Kei gave him a look.

“Fine, _I’ll_ go first. What’s your favorite color?” 

“...Blue. Yours?” 

“The color of your eyes.” 

“Okay, we’re not doing this.” 

“Tsukki, wait! Come back!” 

Kei sighed and lay back down. 

“C’mon, Tsukki-”

“It’s Kei.” Kuroo looked way too excited about that response. Kei pursed his lips to keep himself from catching that contagious smile. “Call me Kei. And fine, I’ll play. But don’t expect my questions to be as boring as yours.”

“Hey! First rule of this game is, no insults.”

“There are _rules_ now?”

Kuroo leaned in and kissed him. If he had meant to shut Kei up, it worked. His voice was low. “Just ask your question.”

“Fine.” He forced himself to look somewhere other than at Kuroo and cleared his throat. His gaze dropped instead to their threaded fingers, Kuroo’s thumb making small circles against the side of his palm. “What would you do if you weren’t...you know. If you had the chance to be whatever you wanted. What would you do with your life?” 

“Hmmm…” Kuroo considered. “I think I’d be a cook.”

“A cook.” 

“Don’t sound so unimpressed. What would you do? Would you still be an auror?” 

“I don’t think there’s anything else I _could_ do.”

“Really?”

“Why?”

“I just thought that if your life went differently, you might choose a more obscure career. Like a writer.”

“A _writer_?”

“Well, you certainly wouldn’t be a cook.”

Kei decked him with the nearest pillow. Kuroo, laughing, swung it back at him with far less force, and Kei caught it easily. “I thought you said no insults.”

Kuroo grinned. “Come on, you practically gave that one to me.”

He rolled his eyes. “Alright. But I’m officially done playing this game. If I’m going to get to know you, it’s going to be through genuine conversations, not random bouts of questions.”

“Does that mean I get to kiss you now?” 

“You already broke that rule, but yes.”

Their noses were pressed together. “To be fair, I didn’t know it was a rule.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t think I’ll ever finish this so: the last chapter was going to be the aurors finding the warehouse and arresting kuroo, and later tsukki rats out nohebi in exchange for kuroo’s freedom. rip this fic, I was a baby when I started writing it and it’s still the longest thing I’ve ever written

**Author's Note:**

> follow my twitter and tumblr (both ketraia) for updates.


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